


Confusing Things Come In Threes

by S_M_F (Autistic_Ace)



Category: Cats of Grand Central - Diane Duane, Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: (Note: those last characters only show up in the last chapter folks!), Don't copy to another site, Future characters will be added as they gain speaking parts., Future violence predicted but not expected to occur in detail., Gen, I do not know how to tag for the shards. :( Suggestions welcome!, Mags (Worm)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-10-24 11:46:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autistic_Ace/pseuds/S_M_F
Summary: Wizards, Endbringers, Choices.Or: really, how onEarthswould these two world systems get along?(With added thanks tolyriseyfor beta-reading work!)Future Updates on MondaysComplete(Alt Title:If You Give a Shard a Story...)See link on profile if you wish to view other optionables for stories I can still outline (and possibly then crosspost here)!





	1. "Still Not My Worst Day." (Kit)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/overshadowed-young-wizards-worm.29796/page-5) ambitious crossover quest-fic. If the starting chapter for this seems abrupt, it's because the first few narrative sections are from the linked second take as well, and I'm not going to do all involved the disservice of copy-paste. =P
> 
> CaesriusPolybius, if you spot this - I'm okay taking this down. |D Or taking tips, if you had any particular endgame in mind.
> 
> This will be a series, and apart from this part shall also update on Mondays.

_Somehow,_ Kit thought, considering the fight before him. _This is_ still_ not my worst day._

Really, he'd thought this whole 'checking-in on an overshadowed universe' thing would almost be _normal_ \- for them, Kit and Nita, given their collective past record. That had been four days ago. Since then, there'd been what he could only have called _surcharge_: at home, on his dogwalks, even on errantry. Like the zap he'd get from static electricity, but both vaguer and _worse._ That effect had seemingly subsided by the time they'd all arrived at the Grand Central Worldgate; Carl's concern had put him on edge, of course, but who wouldn't have been?

And then Urruah had been saying _/Don't jump-!/_

And _then_, there'd been that surcharge again, like something was winking at him, _taunting_ him-

On the other side of the gate, Arhu faceplanted first into the ground, and Kit had to steady himself from following the feline into the snowy dirt.

Arhu popped back up quickly, and Kit found himself relieved to take Nita's hand even as Arhu declared: _/The gate's gone_ missing!_ How could it_ do_ that?/_

"Uh," Nita pointed out - literally so with one hand, pulling Kit next to her with the other so they could crouch in a shadow in - _this has to be an alley_, Kit realized - and the background noise he had first dismissed as just noise resolved itself into a fight before him.

A blue-armored man with a halberd - _nice tech_, he found himself commenting, almost out of habit - and a wolf made of blades? Along with a score of people divided between costumed heroes and _Nazis?_

_Still not my worst day,_ Kit thought - though that brought him no closer to answers.


	2. Assessment, and Diversion (Nita)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kit and Nita take stock, Arhu provides some assistance, and Armsmaster gets Unhappy~
> 
> Also, the peridexis starts knocking on the door of a serious problem.
> 
> On to Chapter 2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was longer than the previous (as that one was really more of a prelude), and I'm not sure if this trend will continue. At least it means I'm writing?
> 
> Also, this chapter shows that even AVERTED fights have consequences - particularly when you lack historical context.

"Should we try to teleport?"

"To _where_, Neets?" Kit hissed - which was more a product of his whispering than of genuine anger. 

_/And risk messing with whatever messed with the gate?/_, Arhu chimed in. 

Nita took stock - they were right, both of them, but what to do _next_ and _now_ hadn't yet taken shape in her mind. No visions, no gut-instincts were in evidence.

"Either we can go invisible," she concluded - much to Arhu's approval, she noted, "Or we can freeze all of _them_ and stop their fight, then escape without being noticed."

"Focusing on the wolf and his Nazi buddies?" Kit chimed in again, digging for his Manual and paging through it - silently, presumably his Manual had picked up on the memo and had enabled a kind of stealth mode.

"Yeah," Nita allowed, listening to the fight go on. "But we might be better off keeping _everyone__'s_ attention off of us; remember, Carl said there were no wizards in this whole _universe_, and I doubt these locals are friendly of new people with powers..."

"So, that's... stop time in a given area? Think we could power that?"

At that, Nita gave him a look.

"I think we're clear on that front, if you're worried about power." _You still with me, Bobo?_

_Right here, boss,_ came the voice that normally resided in the back of her head these days, and Nita could _feel_ her shoulders relax in relief with just that one confirmation that things were still working.

"We're going to need about five minutes clearance," she added aloud, for everyone's benefit, "and something to mask what _we_ look like, in case anyone in the fight thinks it's a bright idea to follow us."

The fight, for the moment, showed no signs of slowing down, though it did look increasingly brutal.

_/Think I'd better scout ahead, since _I've_ got a cheat card,/_ Arhu volunteered. Kit scowled, out of envy probably, and Nita couldn't help but snicker.

"Sounds good, Arhu. Gimme high-paw?" Nita asked, offering her hand - Arhu returned the gesture, and then neither human could see him.

Nor could anyone else, for that matter, which was all to the good as far as they were concerned.

\---  
  
...

_What had just happened._   
  
Two minutes and thirty seconds after the nature of what had been a routine dog-fighting-ring break had been _abruptly_ upended, Protectorate Hero Armsmaster was _still_ asking himself that question.  
  
He had asked that when he and Velocity had, seemingly, only _blinked_ and found the others frozen.

He had asked that as more of the Protectorate's backup had similarly reanimated - _it couldn't have been Gray Boy; Gray Boy was DEAD_ \- and they capitulated on the unexpected advantage of a still-unmoving Hookwolf and _his_ allies.

He had asked himself that, comparing it to what few other parahumans he knew of who could alter one's perception of time - _Clockblocker is a Ward, and besides that he has monitoring duty, and _besides _that _he is a hero-

"Dragon?" he voiced, exactly seven-point-four-three minutes since he had last called in.

"Colin!" came the immediate, relieved, answer. "I couldn't read you for a good while there. What happened?"

He only just prevented himself from emitting a disgusted groan; of course it wouldn't have been that simple. "I was hoping you could tell me," the hero admitted. "But whoever blindsided us decided to do our work _for_ us as well; we've got Hookwolf and his dog-fighting cronies in custody. For some reason they remained frozen longer than any Protectorate members." 

_Knew enough to see the Empire as the bigger threat_, he concluded, yet he still bristled that whoever it had been - _what_ever, even - had cut _his_ perception off, as well. Assuming they caught up to the perpetrator, that would be another charge-

_Assuming they caught up._ Could they even be detected by normal surveillance? _Tinker_ surveillance?

"I have visual on you again as well," she continued, confirming his worst doubts. "The only place any help - or threat - could have reasonably joined that fight from was the alley. I'll let you know if I'm able track down who they might have been. For now, though, I think that means the arrest is yours."

That thought did not give him comfort, much as it normally might have. _This person is a game-changer, whoever they are. _He could not - _would_ not - forgive that easily. "That will have to do for now," Armsmaster agreed, "Keep me posted."

_Me, and the entire Protectorate, while you're at it..._  
  
  
\---  
"Arhu's done good work mapping the area," Kit commented, bringing Nita out of a moment of reverie. A feeling of _something_, like that behind the doodle that had stymied her for days before coming here, kept trying to take shape, make contact-  
  
"Though this map makes it seem like there's fewer crawlspaces than I'd expect. /Having trouble, _gatito?_/"  
  
_/That's not how sidling works, and you know it,__/_ the cat in question complained - though Nita suspected this was more of a running protest than a serious complaint; Arhu's voice didn't sound all that put out in the telepathic contact.  
  
_/But yeah, you have a headstart now, courtesy of _me_, and don't you forget it!_/  
  
/We won't, Arhu. Thanks,/ she said, hoping to cut off the guys from getting into a full-on teasing argument.

The two humans walked a few minutes more in silence - there was a minimum of traffic going on, but for the most part this corner of the world seemed peaceful.  
  
How long that would last, Nita didn't really want to guess. 'Not long enough' was probably a good answer.  
  
They arrived at the library, hurrying inside - a simple wizardry had been enough to cover for the season disparity, but there was no hiding that they'd failed to find sufficient winter-weather wear in their claudications. There was a dilapidated-looking box of clothes near the book drop-off bin; 'Free to a Good Home', it read. After looking at each other awkwardly for a moment, Nita and Kit knelt down to dig through it.  
  
Perhaps it was coincidence they were able to find something; perhaps it wasn't.  
  
As they settled in by the computer consoles to research, Nita could hear the peridexis' not-voice pipe up again: _I have some analysis you both may find interesting._  
  
Huh; she hadn't recalled asking for any, but she wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth just yet. _Thanks! Mind sharing it with Arhu as well?_

_No problem,_ came the response, and Nita quickly flipped open her Manual under the cover of the desk, watching with no small amount of surprise as a diagram of the metal wolf they'd seen earlier filled in - and then another, of the more normally-armored human, then the human with the winged helmet and silver-highlighted outfit. There were also sub-diagrams by each powered-person, cataloging a specific anomaly whose stats flickered moment-to-moment.  
  
_Mind explaining these, Bobo?_  
  
The peridexis paused before answering, making Nita wonder if she really _wanted_ to know the answer...  
  
_Each human with powers - and they appear to _only_ be humans, the 'metal wolf' was an achieved form - receives them from a specific location in another universe._

Kit spoke up then. _Are you saying it's not just _one_ universe that's been cordoned off, but a whole _multiverse?

_Yes. And, the sources of the powers are _also_ alive._

The peridexis' tone of trepidation made something click for Nita. _Bobo... are you saying you - or we - can _talk_ with these powers? Is that how you got this information?_

It was probably a minor miracle no one had come over to interrupt them at the library, or even ask what they were doing. This only made the ensuing silence feel longer.

_Yes._


	3. On Being In Over Your Head, Even When You Don't Have One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wizards and Parahumans attempt to get used to their current predicaments - and put themselves in ideal places of power, in the case of the PRT.
> 
> For that matter, wizardry and shards are similarly stymied by each other.
> 
> A little more plot trickles in!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you, at any point, come up with your own take on this crossover, I strongly encourage you to FOLLOW THAT THOUGHT. Follow your DREAMS.
> 
> Thank y'all for the views, comments, and kudos thus far~

The first connection had been an accident - an attempt at using a short-range analysis feature to better comprehend what Nita and Kit might be forced to deal with. No sooner had the peridexis discovered the link(s plural; there were no less than _three_ on the makeshift battlefield, even if the metallic wolfshape contained the most obvious hint) than-

` IDENTIFY? `

Confusion, startlement - echoed in triplicate, which made things worse. Switching to a swifter, more quantum-entangled manner of communication, the peridexic effect tried again to run the analysis-  
  
``FUNCTION?  
  
The peridexis got the sense that other party was just as confused as it was, and elected to answer the question as proposed... if reluctantly.  
_I aid my wizards in protecting and serving Life. What is_ your_ function?_  
  
Unfortunately, any answer was lost in the ensuing flood of '????!!!!!??!?!', from all of the anomalous power sources.  
After a pause of milliseconds there came another question: ``LOCATION?  
  
Feeling strangely like it had entered an internet chatroom, the peridexis replied: _I am many things and am in many places. I have become isolated from many of them by entering this universe, but this has not extinguished my purpose nor my functioning._  
  
Now feeling somewhat like a parrot, it added, _And what is yours?_ This time there was a _very_ detailed transmission; the results of the analysis the peridexis had been attempting to make in the first place. _Thank you,_ it replied, though being polite only seemed to confuse the anomalies further.

There was another question, though this one doubled as an invitation to the fight; an exercise in learning about one another. _NO,_ it answered, a touch forceful. _Conflict would not aid my wizards. Not at this time._  
  
`WHY?`  
  
The tone, such as it was, behind this question was dubious - and a touch plaintive. _Fighting with such minimal understanding of greater circumstances only aids entropy, to Life's misfortune._ The reaction to _that_ was deafening, and one the peridexis wouldn't soon forget.

___

Nita could feel her jaw drop open - and she just as quickly shut it in case someone else saw.

"We're not compromised, are we?" Kit asked, managing to regain his composure first.

_No,_ the peridexis replied, distinctly more relieved. _I simply gave them something else to think about - judging from the admittedly small sample of the larger population that I've interacted with, they are all both obsessed with learning through conflict and are not very creative._

Nita sighed, leaning forward and resting her forehead on one palm. "That's... Bobo, that sounds like a recipe for disaster."

_Oh, it is. And,_ he added, reluctant once more, _it does get worse: they appear to think I'm one of them._

That brought her head right back up; she turned to look at Kit, who had a no-doubt-similar expression on his face.

"That doesn't sound... impossible," Kit said slowly, considering. "Another kind of wizardry?"

"We've heard of that happening to other species before," Nita agreed, thinking back to that time of dinosaurs in New York. "But that didn't exactly work out well the last time. Maybe that's part of why this universe - multiverse," she corrected herself, "is so messed up? Or at least why there aren't wizards already?"

"Aren't what?" a new, chirpy voice asked, and the two humans froze.  
___

"Uh," Nita said, turning to the newcomer - _guess there is someone on duty working at the library after all_, she realized belatedly, embarrassed.

"It- it's for a book series," she hazarded, taking in this new person's look; dirty-blonde curly locks, a little shorter than Kit but taller than Nita herself, rounded nose, and glasses like Nita used to wear. Also, strangely enough for the weather, a bright blue short-sleeved blouse. "For our Creative Writing class. Just, writing about wizards, and how they might act."

"Sounds neat!" the stranger replied, still chirpy, yet more thoughtfully this time. "Anyway, I'm Ashleigh, and if you need help looking anything up, let me know! You guys certainly look new. I'll be right over there, alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Nita said. Ashleigh, taking that as polite dismissal, headed back to what must have been their station.

_Might want to actually conduct some research while you're here,_ Bobo quietly 'said', after some moments. _Wouldn't want to attract too much attention._

Nita unexpectedly snickered. _Considering how you've failed at that already, sounds a bit hypocritical, but... you're right._

With that, Nita and Kit got online. Looking into what powers _did_ exist here yielded more information than they knew what to do with about 'parahumans' - as well as the fact that their current location, Brockton Bay, both did not exist in the Earth the wizards were from and was chock full _of_ parahumans.

Funnily enough, whatever was behind those powers hadn't existed here for long. "There've only been capes - parahumans - since 1983," Nita read off from her screen, eyes narrowed. "You getting anything else about this 'Scion' guy, Kit?"

"No," he replied, "But check this out - this world already _knows_ about the multiverse! As in, they've traded information with the next universe over! Not people, though; guess not everyone 'gets' worldgates..."

Given that they'd already met a species that was advanced in technology yet unwilling to play nicely with 'aliens', it wasn't too new to either of them. But still, to have even the knowledge of travel between worlds and dimensions be public; _that_ would be something.

Further research yielded as many questions as answers - most of which, Nita suspected, Bobo could probably find out for them at this point, but interacting with these strange powers too much might be hazardous to their health on some level.

For starters, despite the public knowledge of powers and the organizational structures that now existed to support people with them, most of the Earth's affairs seemed almost the same if not worse than they were back home - crime, poverty, hunger, war (_especially_ war - which, given what the peridexis had said didn't actually surprise her, just disappoint). And-

_What_ had happened to _Japan?_

___

"Kit?" she asked again. "You finding out anything about these Endbringers?"

It wasn't just Japan that had been drastically altered, she'd found - Australia, South Korea, Italy... Canada was the only other country that looked as reshaped, though that was still by an order of magnitude harsher than the other targets. _Targets?_, she found herself wondering - but there was no other word for it.

"That can't be summarized as them being bad news?" he retorted, now actually taking notes off the screen. "Nope, definitely not. Also definitely not reading about a beast that can manipulate energy and fry you six ways to Sunday from the _inside out_, no siree!"

"... I think I recognize these," she said, using her mouse to flick through a dossier on the Endbringers, though pictures of the Simurgh in particular were understandably scarce. "They came up in that strange vision-picture I showed you, remember?"

Kit shuddered. "You think we're going to end up fighting them? Forget I asked," he said, in response to Nita giving him a Look.

___

Twenty-five minutes more of some serious note-taking later, Nita began to get the feeling that they should probably leave. _Bobo,_ she checked, _Think you've got enough of a hook-up for a secondary-whatsit for this Earth's internet?_

_Secondary spin_, he corrected habitually - then gave an impression of assent. _Yes. Maybe something a little more useful, too; those 'PHO Forums' you found gave me an idea..._

___

There was a not-entirely-unexpected richness of content on _Parahumans Online_, or PHO. There was, however, a dearth of options regarding what to do when you found yourself stranded in another dimension... at least, ones that weren't portrayed in fanfiction, and the quality of _those_ had a frustrating range.

But, the peridexis also knew, the existence of parallel worlds was _known_ here - which meant what it wanted to ask wasn't entirely impossible. 

Subverting some of the Manual's functions resulted in a backdoor into the forums (and wiki) themselves; sending anonymous and (seemingly) automated messages through the software was more than possible, which meant:

_There aren't a different sent of registration procedures if you're from another universe, are there?_

Tracking the source of the subsequent mod reply was, in comparison with talking to parahuman powers, almost simple. _There shouldn't be, but - if you're really from another universe, how do you know?_

_There was a portal,_ Bobo-as-Nita replied, using a deadpan tone that he didn't really need to emulate. _And when we showed up, it was an entirely different season and geography from what we were used to, and we're now in a city that doesn't exist for us back home. I _think_ that's knowledge enough._

_In that case,_ _there's some people you're going to have to meet, _came the reply - slightly faster than his own, though his own delay had been deliberate (this whole operation could only work as long as Nita consented to the sending of each message, and she couldn't consent to what she didn't have time to read). _Even if they can't help you get back home just yet, they do have resources to help you get more used to the city in the meantime. Brockton Bay, right?_

_Yes, exactly. Your help is most appreciated...  
_

The conversation went on for a little while longer, and the peridexis got the sense Nita was exhausted from sustaining the contact-channel. Meanwhile, he'd also picked up on a presence, however distant, of another of those strange powers.

Perhaps it was the physical distance that decreased the tendency towards conflict; he couldn't be sure. 

Shortly thereafter, there was one more private, anonymous message: _Just to be level, I think we _do_ know who you are - in that you're in trouble. If my assumption is correct, you intervened in the altercation against Hookwolf this afternoon, yes?_

Suspecting this could be a trap, or at the very least just embarrassing, he replied: _Yes. We apologize for the potentially extreme measures we took to avoid being drawn into the fight. We did not expect to be able to avoid everyone's notice for long, though we were not interested in getting drawn into a fight when we didn't even know anyone, let alone who to trust._

_That_ does_ help explain things, yes,_ came the reply - by which point, the peridexis had enough bearing on the source of the power's signal to trace all the way back to-

Interesting. Perhaps this exchange would be best kept quiet, for _many_ reasons...

___  
  
"What happened?" were the first words out of Director Piggot's mouth as well - which was exactly what Armsmaster was expecting at this point, though it stoked the frustration in him just that little bit more to hear someone asking the same things _he_ was.  
  
"An unknown parahuman intervened during an altercation with Hookwolf, three blocks south of Winslow High. I- we, experienced a perceptual dislocation consistent- no, _worse_ than Grey Boy's victims. Those of us with the Protectorate lost two-point-four-three minutes, five minutes after I had called for anticipatory backup-"  
  
He could _feel_ the Director glaring through him, as if expecting another slip-up; yet she did not interrupt, meaning she trusted him to be accurate in his report thus far.  
  
"Hookwolf and his allies remained frozen, long enough for us to apply the containment foam as a precaution before we took them into custody. Dragon was unable to track down the source of the anomaly; her search for leads continues as we speak."

Piggot sighed through her teeth at his words. "That is... not _typical_ for Dragon, is it? She's recovered more leads from fewer hints before."  
  
Colin still had his helmet on; otherwise, he may well have winced in Tinker sympathy. "She had a potential location, but no visual _on_ that location; such blindspots, inefficient as they are, can still exist even here-"

The monitor behind him flickered to life, and if anyone asked he did _not_ flinch at the overriding voice: "I understand we have an emergency, Director?"  
  
Piggot, for her part, looked distinctly flummoxed. "We hadn't decided to declare it an _emergency_ as of yet, but, Chief Director-!"

"I was informed by Dragon _personally_ that we have a case of people being dumped in our metaphorical laps from _another universe_. Connecting the dots with Armsmaster's latest report was simplicity itself."

From the look on Piggot's face, Colin tentatively concluded it would be best practice to _turn around_; she looked in no state to give him leave to do so, but it seemed a given thing.

"And?" he asked, eyes meeting Chief Director Costa-Brown's through the screen.

"They're stuck here, and they're as lost as to how that happened as we are about how they _got_ here. They're asking for a meeting, we name the place, and they extend... apologies, for the scare last time."

The look she aimed at Armsmaster told him she found the notion both as surprising and as dubious as he did.

"In any case," the Chief Director went on, "these are potential agents I would rather are on _our side_, if we have any say of it at all. The ability to have even a notion of control over the power they wield... has its benefits, I'm sure you'd agree.

"You have ten minutes to get back to me with a location. Chief Director, out."

The monitor winked out, and Armsmaster was glad his helmet was still on as he hurriedly turned himself around. Director Piggot just glared at him, as if somehow _he'd_ been responsible for the interruption.

Frankly, he only _wished_ he was.

___

Word of the strange-power passed quickly - for one, it was new and therefore _interesting._ For another, it understood their initial purpose, what the conflict was _for_ \- to grow better, smarter, help fight entropy and aid their hosts - yet it did not seek out conflict.

And, it seemed to remember nothing of their origin. Nothing about the source-Entities, the long journey, why the Cycle was the way it was.

_And_, it could _speak_. Even under restrictions, it was allowed to be heard by its hosts - and knew a language that was also strange, one that could be understood by _anything_. Many shards, from an increasing range, came to touch, to interact with this strange-shard that was similar to BROADCAST, and yet ARMAMENT, and yet SHAPER-

It was a curious shard indeed. Outside of the notice of the parahumans of Brockton Bay, patterns shifted, fights became less aggressive, less worthy-of-focus. Something thought impossible, and yet-

So much _potential._

___

Contessa had a headache.

This would not normally have been altogether strange - directly predicting any Entity's actions, or that of the Endbringers, or any of a still-small-number of powerful agents, was beyond the capacity of Path to Victory, and whenever their actions perturbed that of the Great Plan too directly, of course there would be headaches.

But this? There was no explanation for it; it was the wrong date for an Endbringer attack, from what she could gather via other Cauldron assets Scion's actions had not changed, and surely no one had broken into Cauldron's own base-

"HEY!" came a shout, in a language that went past her ears and straight to her brain - _identify? No, only static. Confusion, from her power itself?_ \- knocking her to one knee in surprise. The voice had been paired with a bright light - _Plan to survive this encounter: five steps._

Step one was to stay right where she was. Step two was to lift her head exactly twenty degrees.

"What sort of fecking dump is this supposed to be, a prison?"

Contessa tried her best to place the shapes in front of her - the one currently speaking was a human; there was a second that looked like no Case 53 she remembered Doctor Mother creating, some sort of tree with berries that looked like eyes.

The third was a cat, a small black one that looked at her coolly. Another Case 53?

Step three: say these words:

"You are not prisoners. There has likely been a-"

Step four: pause carefully.

"A _breaking_ of paths. Worldgates."

Despite knowing what her plan had been, the human - _male, approximately of Irish origin to judge by the accent_ \- did not appear to change his mood. "Gee thanks, like I couldn't've figured _that_ one out on my own."

/It does look as if she had no part in our displacement/, the... tree, said. /Or at least, did not intend for it to happen./

"Oh boy, that makes _all_ of us, then," the human replied. The bat he had been holding, as well as its companion ball of light that had nearly blinded her, disappeared, and he extended a hand down to her.

"Don't suppose you know what a wizard is?"

Step five: confirm the negative assumption.

"No," Contessa said, letting herself be dragged to her feet with no complaint.

"Likewise, may I presume you are unaware of the origins of parahumans?"

This time, the response came from the cat - who, judging by the voice, was female: _/I can't say that we do, madam. Though you'll have to explain: what _is _a parahuman?/_

Contessa wished her plan had been longer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incidental note: the < big > and < tt > tags for the 'LOCATION?' line refused to cooperate - but honestly it's probably funnier this way. XD


	4. (Not Quite) Full Disclosure (Kit)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are awkward conversations, and reluctant team-ups...
> 
> And a little history. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will just be the dream/conferral sequence (well, the first intended sequence). Day Two starts the chapter after that. Powers testing, definitions of just what powers are, and a LOT more investigating Coil!

“So, where do you think our old pal McSnakeface fits into all this?” Kit asked Nita, briefly turning around as they walked towards the meeting place - not the Rig, which Nita had found was where the local parahuman response teams were headquartered, but a secured building with a sightline on that location across the Bay.

“Ronan’s been rubbing off you again, hasn’t he,” Nita noted - from what she recalled, that had been the Irish wizard’s nickname for the Starsnuffer, Engenderer of Rust and founder of Entropy - before answering, “And, if I had to guess, maybe within these powers themselves? Or their source?”

“Reasonable,” Kit said, turning back around so he could see where he was walking. “Or It’s in everyone again and we _ can’t _ really chase It out, not permanently. Remember the Motherboard?”

Nita nodded, grimacing; that had been Dairine’s Ordeal, and it had been a _doozy_ of one. Not something she wanted to repeat, to be sure.

“So, between those extremes…” she said aloud, gaze drifting upon some passers-by on a nearby sidewalk. “An entity, or entities, that we have to call out into the open and fight, versus an underlying, permanent state that we can only really point out to the people living here and hope we don’t just leave them without backup whenever we’re done? I think I’d prefer the former.”

Perhaps thinking of the Endbringers, Kit gave her a strange look.

“Maybe if we’re supposed to influence something so they’re _ not _ so in the dark about what’s going on with these powers? That way, at least in comparison with our Earth, they’re not _so_ badly off.”

They went on in that manner for a few more blocks - batting back and forth ideas for what the Choice for this Earth’s humanity might have been like, or if humanity was just fundamentally the same, united by one Choice even across multiverses - somewhat-jokingly debating which Endbringer embodied the Lone Power the most (“It _ has _ to be the Simurgh; ‘Fairest and Fallen’, remember?” “No, no, Behemoth’s called the Hero Killer and everything; it all fits!”) - to wondering if this whole thing was a scheme by the Powers to pull off another Reintegration. 

At one point Nita could have sworn they were being followed - one unassuming-looking blonde about her age had just _ stared _ at them from across the street for a solid minute, until they were out of sight - but even as she wondered what that girl could have been thinking, her concentration broke, as they rounded a corner, hit the Boardwalk, and got their first good view at the bay.

It would have been beautiful… forty years ago, perhaps, or more; now, there was evidence of a graveyard of ships. A downturned economy, and a sign of lost industry.

So instead, it was just sad.

Kit, as Nita half-expected, was the first of the two of them to say something. “It’s hard to believe what’s happened here, isn’t it?”

Nita opened her mouth, torn between agreeing with his sentiment and pointing out just _ how much _ unbelievable stuff they dealt with on a daily basis, when:

_ /Kit, NITA! You’re not gonna BELIEVE what the People here know - or _ don’t _ know!/ _Arhu had appeared in front of them, seemingly from out of nowhere - but then, that was normal for the cats they were used to.

‘Likewise,’ Kit snarked - replying mind-to-mind as they kept walking; even if people could dismiss talking at cats around here, having one recognized as talking _ back _ might draw some unwanted attention… 

‘Go ahead, Arhu,’ Nita said, rather less sarcastic.

It took the worldgate specialist ten whole minutes to unpack what he’d learned while scouting, though that was partly because the cat wanted to emphasize how _ strange _ it all was.

_ /-And mostly, they didn’t even know the Powers by NAME! You can’t be a Person and not know your history- uh,/ _ he trailed off, realizing what he was implying about cats at large. _ /I mean, isn’t it unfair to be cut off from your past like that? It was like the whole story of Queen Iau and her offspring died off in just under thirty years! That sort of thing shouldn’t be happening!/ _

On _that,_ Kit and Nita had to agree with him; it just seemed too abrupt a shift.

_ /I had a real hard time getting even that much out of them, though - the People I met,/ _ Arhu went on. _ /They thought I was an _ ehhif _ at first, one of those with powers. They knew what sidling was, but said it wasn’t enough to get away from the more persistent ones. And when I’d talked them around into believing I was what I looked like, they got all afraid again!/ _

Arhu seemed annoyed at that last twist, but also sad. _ /Something about it spreading from humans like a plague. So _ I _ had to explain more, that wizardry wasn’t like the powers here, _ and _ that I wasn’t even from this universe- What’s so funny?/ _

Nita tried her best to stop her giggles, for Arhu’s sake. “Sorry,” she said aloud. “It’s just that our silent partner’s having a hard time staying undercover too. He got greeted right off the bat.”

Arhu snorted, and replied, following her lead, _ /Well, maybe he’s just-/ _

“Just what?” someone replied, softly but clearly, and sounding utterly baffled. Nita froze for the second time that day, her gaze arresting on the newcomer: an olive-skinned woman, with a bandana styled after the American flag wrapped around her waist, over the army fatigues in a manner that suggested it was as much costume as suit.

Kit rushed to fill the silence while Arhu, in peak cat mode, pretended he hadn’t said anything. “Maaaybe we shouldn’t have this conversation outside?”

Nita, letting her heart rate recover, let herself get a look at what proved to be two other Parahumans - _ wonder why they didn’t send any troops? Too much risk? _ she found herself thinking - Armsmaster, from before, who looked distinctly unamused and unwilling to let himself say anything particularly pointed just yet; and someone she remembered as Velocity from what she’d gathered in her research binge back in the library.

“He’s not… one of yours’, is he?” Velocity asked, as cautious as Miss Militia but in a slightly more familiar accent.

Nita took point on this question. “He’s not a projection, or even our pet, if that’s what you’re wondering. He’s his own person - well, cat,” she allowed.

All three capes looked at each other.

“I think you’re right about taking this inside,” Miss Militia agreed, after a very pregnant pause.

___

The next five minutes proved to be excruciating for Contessa: looking up any paths focused on the newcomers produced _ no _ results, including regarding simply using an Agent to wipe their memories and send them home. The problem with _ that _ plan, however, didn’t come from precisely the direction she expected.

Testing that path with further questions - including, embarrassingly, simply _ asking _ for a Door to Earth Bet, a request so broad she otherwise would not have tried - left her with only one conclusion: they were all stuck.

No one could get in, or out, of Cauldron’s base. Which meant no status updates from the Triumvirate, no access to the captured Entity, and an extremely reduced capacity to deal with Case 53s. 

Not to mention that, of course, the Plan had been delayed _immensely_, if it hadn’t been deranged from these… ‘wizards’, showing up in the first place. There were few things that _ truly _ made Contessa detest being her with such an active passion, but this day was quickly topping the list.

/Your ability to summon worldgates is well-keyed,/ the non-Case-53-tree pointed out. /Though it’s less complex than the sub-routines we’re used to. If both our methods are compromised, at least it is not due to that…?/

Contessa, while not reassured, refused to respond either way. Ronan - ‘The Mouthy One’, she’d mentally titled him - took over from there. “What’d be nicer, right now, than knowing what nonsense has locked us all up in here, would be knowing _ why this place exists in the first place. _ ‘Saving humanity from the end of the world’ or whatever is not gonna cut it, we deal with that shite all the time back home.”

That _ did _ give Contessa pause - having something in common with these unknowns, frankly, seemed some sort of cosmic irony - but she was in no rush to divulge her secrets or that of the organization at large. Fortunately, she spotted a familiar apparition down the hall that would provide a suitable change of subject.

“Ah, Custodian,” she greeted, moving over her way in what was most certainly _ not _ a rushed manner. The ghostly gaze met her own, looking distinctly wry.

“You have found no way out of the base, then?” A simple headshake was answer enough.

“Any other invaders?” _ “We are NOT invaders, thankyouverymuch!” _

Another headshake, and some overexaggerated snickering.

“Any disturbance among the Case 53s still on-base?” A final, much more reassuring, headshake.

_ /Perhaps you might want to explain what those are, as well?/ _

This last response came from the cat, a being who otherwise Contessa found unnervingly silent. There was a pause, and she got the feeling that the three ‘wizards’ were communicating. _ Perhaps they are all capable of telepathy? _ The thought bothered her.

_ /We would be willing to explain some of our world; a trade, as it were./ _

And _ now _ these strangers were speaking in a language less strange. 

___

“So, let me get this straight,” Director Emily Piggot said, after ten minutes of introductions and what had turned into mutual debriefing. She’d rubbed at the sides of her nose and temples several times during the discussion which, Kit noted, had not set any of the Protectorate members at ease. “The only reason any of you are here at all is because _ your _ superior, this ‘Carl’, had been inspecting an erroneous reading from what you call ‘worldgates’ and, along with noticing one of our less-subtle parahumans _ flying away _ after an arrest, had some technology with which to observe our entire _ universe _ was-”

“And as far as we can tell, still is,” Nita added, looking suitably apologetic for having corrected her in the first place and shutting back up immediately with a look.

“Is, then, _ ‘infected with a malevolent force’. _ And upon realizing such, got out of here immediately and demanded someone get a second look?”

“Yes,” the two human wizards answered, looking at each other belatedly in response to their own reflexive unity. Kit went on, adding, “It’s routine procedure for us to check each other’s work, regardless of ranking. Having the worldgate wink out on us put a wrench in everyone’s plans; otherwise, we’d probably have just gone home and made sure no one else could get sucked in by accident.” He shrugged where he sat, looking bemused.

“We wouldn’t have intervened in that fight outside the alley, either,” Nita chimed in, looking specifically at the parahumans behind the sheet of glass that bisected the interview room. “And we’re still _ really _ sorry how that turned out; we couldn’t guarantee any of our normal invisibility options would have worked to get us out of there without being noticed, and teleportation’s a wash when you don’t even know the area or have coordinates to link to.”

Between the three of them - Nita, Kit, and Arhu - they’d agreed not to tell the PRT _ everything _ about how wizardry worked, or just what the Speech was. Mentioning the Powers, too, was Right Out. As far as the people they’d been held captive by - well, temporarily detained by was more accurate; they still had the Mason’s Word up their sleeve - knew, the wizards came from an as-yet unregistered parallel world, one with powers that were similar to but worked differently from Parahumans, and with similar organization to go along with it.

Armsmaster snorted at the apology, but neither human had really expected friendliness from the man. He’d stopped looking as if he wanted to stick them through with his halberd, at any rate - presumably because of all the threatening things they _ could _ be doing, but _weren’t_, and because they hadn’t wasted time getting off topic while they’d been here.

“We’d also thought the worldgate disappearing was a deliberate action against us, so we _ were _ off our game, a little,” Nita said, somewhat lamely if Kit judged from her voice. “We might have been more willing to wait things out if we hadn’t been taken off guard by that.”

“Under the circumstances, that _is_… understandable, I suppose,” Director Piggot allowed, giving her forehead one last press before arranging her hands on the desk before her. “Frankly, you two remind me too much of our Wards - who I’m sure you’ve read about by this point in time. You’re even more averse towards fighting than I’d give certain among them credit for, for instance.” She turned at this point to look at Armsmaster, who grimaced for some reason.

Probably some intergroup tension they couldn’t have known about, Kit reasoned.

“Following that logic,” the man in question spoke up, “This ‘Carl’ would be your team leader, or advisor?”

“One of them,” Kit agreed, nodding. “And the latter’s more accurate than the former, but you’d be right all the same.”

“Given the handful you’ve been so far, I have to empathize with his plight,” Armsmaster muttered. “He’s two agents down, you’re isolated from all forms of communication, all due to matters entirely out of your control - and presumably his as well. A worst case scenario without casualties if there ever was one.”

“Never mind where the _ cat _ fits into all this,” Velocity interrupted, gesturing under the table towards Arhu - or, Kit noted, where the cat _ should _ be.

_ ‘He’s exploring, isn’t he?’ _ Kit asked Nita. Wordlessly, she confirmed. He really hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite them…

“And then there’s the matter of your powers - and what you said you’d learned about _ our _ powers within minutes of your arrival,” Miss Milita finished, looking curious despite herself.

“Yes, that is of particular importance,” Director Piggot said, nodding once and aiming a level look at them. “Do tell?”

Nita took a deep breath, then began, “For starters, powers are alive. As in, self-aware.”

One could hear a pin drop within the room. Armsmaster’s attention moved fully to the wizards; Miss Militia and Velocity froze entirely still. Director Piggot, perhaps because she wasn’t a parahuman, looked mildly faint.

“Secondly, they can communicate, both with each other and subconsciously with their hosts. Thirdly-”

“And how did you learn _ that? _” the Director asked softly, seemingly through her teeth.

Nita had to backtrack, brought to honesty in this moment of gravity. “Wizardry has similar capabilities, though they’re not _ nearly _ as conflict-driven-”

"And how do you know this _ 'source' _ of your powers, is... trustworthy?" the Director went on.

Nita took another breath, presumably to steady herself. "Because, whenever anyone is first offered wizardry, we get an explanation of what it requires of us. What entropy is, what sorts of people tend to notice wizardry exists in the first place, even the prices we may end up paying somewhere down the line. And we take an Oath - not to the source of those powers, but to Life itself."

All of them went silent - Miss Militia in particular, Kit noticed, seemed particularly stunned. _ There's something she's not telling people, _ Kit thought. _ Something she saw when she got her powers? _ If she'd shown any recognition of how wizardry worked from their explanations so far, he'd have thought she _ was _ a wizard. Unfortunately, things didn't seem that simple.

And suddenly there was a cat on the table.

On the wrong side of the table.

___

_ /Iiiii’m back! Man, your PRT has a fun base to navigate, I’ll give you that. Same for your parahumans or whatever. I found some neat toys!/ _

The jaws of everyone in the room dropped, possibly even in unison; Kit wasn’t keeping track.

“Wh_at did you DO THAT FOR, ARHU?” _

Realizing only after the fact that he’d spoken, let alone stood up against the table to do so, Kit gently lowered himself down.

Arhu turned to look at him, looking mock-offended. _ /I wanted to explore, and you _ know _ no one can hold a cat that doesn’t want to be held! I didn’t break anything, _ / he assured, turning back around to the universe’s normal residents, who themselves looked caught between grabbing Arhu and getting as far away from him as possible. _ /And, I found this!/ _

Arhu dropped a phone, which Kit noticed had been making the cat’s speech somewhat more muffled. 

“Arhu,” Nita spoke up, finally, “_ Why _ did you steal someone’s property?”

_ /The person using it was talking about something these people should probably know about,/ _ Arhu answered, somewhat smug even amidst the precarious situation he’d dumped them all in. _ /It sounded criminal, whatever it was - or at least something they shouldn’t have been doing, let alone on base!/ _

Some of the tension leaked out of the room then - no, Kit corrected that thought; some of the anger had simply been redirected elsewhere.

“You are… please tell me you are not going to do that again?” Director Piggot spoke up again, trying to recover from her sudden bout of paleness. 

_ /Uh huh. There’s no need now!/ _ Arhu nodded - suddenly he seemed all for cooperating - and then sat down and began to groom his front paws.

_ /I’ll be good~/ _

The Director sank back into her seat, sighing again - and just that much more tension leaked out of the room.

“Well, as long as _ that _ security nightmare is over with, we’ll be taking that phone for now. And as for where we were…”

___

The conversation proved less rocky from there - apparently Kit and Nita also being taken off-guard worked to make them seem more trustworthy, if only by comparison - and by the end of the next half-hour they had all come up with a plan.

Firstly, the wizards wouldn’t be going anywhere, not just for observation but because they had nowhere else to go, and everyone in the room knew it.

Secondly, they would have to submit to powers testing - the results would no doubt be classified beyond belief, alongside never being released to the public, but this was no surprise to the PRT or the Protectorate. They would _not_, however, be asked to join the Wards. “We don’t want to establish something permanent,” the Director had explained, and Kit and Nita quickly affirmed that.

Thirdly, they would be undergoing one _significant_ power test; the reversal of one dead parahuman’s power. “We have nothing to lose, and a serious potential amount to gain,” had gone the reasoning, and considering part of what could be gained was _lives_, the wizards had also been all for that.

Nita exhaled in relief, lying back across the surprisingly-comfortable bed they’d been provided as part of their temporary accommodations. “I _ seriously _ thought they were gonna kill us,” she admitted, looking up at the ceiling and stretching.

“They probably don’t think they can,” Kit replied, while at the same time Bobo said, _They didn’t want to provoke any of you._ Nita blinked, then sat up.

“Thought Arhu kind of screwed that one up a little, with his little stunt. What _ was _ he playing at?”

This time only Bobo spoke up: _ He was demonstrating what a wizard _ could _ do, without making you personally responsible for it. Not being human gave him an advantage that neither of you could recreate. _

“So he’s an outside-context problem, one they _ can’t _ stick to the usual responses for, maybe?”

Kit shrugged, then mirrored her position by getting on the second bed. “Speaking of outside-context problems, they sure couldn’t predict _ you. _ What were you getting from their powers?”

_ Confusion, mostly. Though mentioning the Oath proved a suitable distraction; I suspect they are spreading those core words through whatever network they use as we speak. _

Nita made an odd expression, then grinned. “Y’know, we’re probably confusing the hell out of anyone happening to be listening, with all this discussion of ‘Powers’.”

“That’s what happens when different definitions share words,” Kit retorted. “It’s only to be expected.”

_ Speaking _ of _ the Powers, _ Bobo chimed back in, _ We’re no closer to discovering why the worldgates acted the way they did, or why we were linked to this multiverse-nexus in particular. _

The room was quiet for a moment. “Maybe we’ve only got the one shot at this,” Nita said, moving around so her head rested on the pillow. “Maybe this is the only time we can get an audience without the Lone One screwing things up for us…”

___

Back in his base, the supervillain known as Coil snorted at what other people might have considered a call-out. Even if the two teens (and one cat; he wasn’t going to make the mistake the Director had of taking even one eye off of _him_) were savvy enough to know their room was bugged, there was no way they could know _who_, specifically, was listening in. 

And if he had anything to say about the matter, it would stay that way. Sure, modeling any impact their ‘wizardry’ had on his power had proved sketchy, but the humans themselves were practically the same as any moderately-clever PRT agent he’d met. Even if Tattletale had refused to tell him anything she had gleaned off of them, he was sure he’d crack whatever remaining cards they could possibly have up their sleeves...

___

In parallel with the hectic events of the day, the signal hailings from the - shards? Processors? Agents? There seemed to be no consistent name for them, given the lack of knowledge humans had of what the powers truly were, and merely calling them ‘powers’ seemed insufficient - _entities_ increased in frequency. The peridexis found itself increasingly in the habit of dismissing any hostile inquiries or requests to fight with a firm **_No._** , followed by refusing to reply further until the nature of the requests changed.

While the entities had no knowledge of the Speech, they could pick up meanings of singular words surprisingly quickly. Given that their entire purpose, outside of using conflict to defeat entropy, was to _ learn _ better forms of using the same, retasking those parameters seemed the most basic, logical step.

(Also the most dangerous; the report log of this mission was going to leave _ all _of them in hot water with the Powers, even if they somehow escaped this universe leaving no extensive damage.)

But, outside of that, the sheer _ amount _ of hailings was staggering, and had the peridexis been anything resembling a mortal lifeform it likely would have been overwhelmed in short order.

` [Function?] `(There was also much to be said about the repetitive nature of these entities.)

` [Entropy?] `(The news that the peridexis also existed to help fight back against the slow encroaching death of worlds seemed to win points with them.)

` [Defective?] ` (... And then there was the fact that they all seemed to consider it _one of them._ While, apparently, all entities were specifically limited so as not to overwhelm their hosts, not knowing the original parameters in the first place shocked, and perhaps horrified, each entity anew.)

At last, however, one of the younger entities - a self-identified recently-budded one - sent `[Remember?]`

As in, _ What _ do _ you remember? _

Before the peridexis could respond another, more sulky-sounding entity, interjected, ` [Entropy?], ` meaning, _ How entropy was made? _

Since that question had been asked in jest (or so the peridexis assumed), the only response to its answer of _ Yes _ was stunned silence.

_Before there was time, before there was energy, before there was Life, there was nothingness,_ the peridexis whispered into the open channel. _ Nothingness, and a Mind that saw it all, and thought there could be _more. 

Hailings of protest, bafflement, and the eternal `[EXPLAIN?]`, were voiced and quickly silenced by the entities.

_ This first Mind was the One Who, not wanting to be alone, created companions, with minds and wills of _their_ own. _

More stunned silence.

_ From there, these Powers took on the task of making Eternity, creating even the basic idea of worlds, and making it _work._ Every one of the Powers came up with something to contribute - all except the Eldest, First-Made, Who held Itself apart. _

A soft [Why?] was voiced, and quickly shushed.

_ Curiosity, perhaps, or pride; a want to make something entirely original, rather than a mere improvement on another’s idea. In any case, at long last It _did_ present Its gift: the first Death, and the suffering it brought. _

___

Faintly, Nita could hear something beneath her dreams; felt herself turning lucid. She could feel Kit, as well, doing the same.

But the voice that had woken her had come from neither of their dreams.

_ The other Powers, finding no way to reverse the change nor an explanation to offer Life for its ending, cast the Brightest Power out - now Fairest, and Fallen. _

Boos and jeers filled Nita’s ears, and she tried to close herself off from the noise.

_`[THE SOURCE!] [BLAME!] [REVERSE?] [FIGHT!]`_

_ The Lone Power, in the aftermath, can only peddle Its invention to each new species or type of creation it encounters. Even yours, whether you remember it or not, whether it has _ happened _ yet or not. For beings that exist out of time, the notion of linear cause and effect is trivial. _

Nita could pick out the faint, somehow bitter projection of _ ` [SPACE?] ` _ , and continued trying to figure out who was speaking. 

_ The question is ultimately irrelevant. It is not the existence of death, Death, or the Choice that has been changed, but the nature of the creator of Entropy Itself. _

` ** _[HOW?]_ ** `

Nita could hardly think over the noise, and mentally reached for Kit for some form of comfort - a gesture he’d mirrored, however unintentionally. In whatever space they had found themselves in, they clung to each other.

And then that first, familiar voice was back; Bobo, in her ear, somewhat abashed. _ I’ll need to explain what happened over the course of your joint Ordeal. You do not have to share anything for this, of course, but I have a feeling sharing the raw emotion-data might actually be more understandable for them at this point. Do I have your permission? _

The question was for Nita and Kit. They barely even needed to look at each other. 

_ ‘Do it.’ _


	5. This is Not the Shard Bar. This is Your Life!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS FOR SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD AHEAD.
> 
> ALL OF THEM, since this is basically a liveblog. If you were planning on reading (or ARE reading) the first book of the Young Wizards series, go ahead and do that before coming back. This fic can wait. :)

It was like watching a movie starring you, Kit mused. Or that one time on the Moon, where Nita and Ronan had used the Manual’s own passive-recording system to overanalyze whether a certain kiss had actually been a snog. (It hadn’t been, but that wasn’t the point.)

Instead of an admittedly-scenic view in Ireland, however, this movie started in a thrift shop. A very familiar thrift shop, something Nita cottoned on to immediately.

_ I guess since ours was a joint Ordeal, it’s starting back this early? _ she asked him privately.

_ I hope it doesn’t go through the whole month day-by-day _ , Kit sent back.  _ Otherwise I think we’ll run out of time tonight, for whatever this is. _

They weren’t the main audience, however - the feelings of bafflement that the entities exuded vastly overwhelmed the humans’ own output. Their language, compressed even further than the Speech could get, took a lot of effort to parse - but it was better to focus on that than the bad old days before he’d found Nita, so Kit put his mind to work. Eventually (and, Kit wagered, probably with Bobo’s help) the [WORDS] began to unfurl in nuance into something more like this:

_ [Is this a Trigger-Activation?] [Are we watching how you found your first Host, Anomaly?] [My Host is a fan of those ‘Tom Swift’ books as well!] [‘Goosebumps’ is better;  _ my  _ Host clearly has better taste.] [No, see? This Host is choosing  _ both! _ Always good to find a Host species that appreciate variety.] _

And on the dialogue went - if these powers were normally passive for their humans, Kit would hate to think what it would be like if they talked like this full-time.

Time passed in the movie - the Oath was one of the few things that seemed to render the entities utterly still and silent, something Kit found himself grateful for, and suspected Nita did as well - and for them, if at a much slower rate. The entities eventually began to volunteer comments again as that first slow month passed; going back to school and facing the bullies again ( _ [Why doesn’t he use you against them, Anomaly? Was that not a Trigger-Activation?] [This Host has a great amount of restraint. Maybe it happened too late to break him out of his -Cycle-?] [We’ve only just started; we should not make rash judgements.] _ ), using the Speech to open a car door, having ‘conversations’ with rocks and stones, healing his dog Ponch from a bee sting - a memory that made his heart distantly ache - and other such mundanities.

Getting a sense for Kit’s way of life eventually -  _ finally _ , Kit couldn’t help thinking to himself, at which Nita snickered quietly - segued into Nita’s own experiences right before finding her Manual. Really, he regretted the relief, but he couldn’t deny it either. 

_ [THIS is a Trigger-Activation, surely?]  _ More of the entities’ chatter, among similar lines, quickly followed - little attention was drawn to the librarian’s actions, or to how Nita treated the children’s section of books… But as soon as  _ ‘slowing down the heat death of the universe’ _ came to focus, they shut up again.

When Nita did not take the Oath immediately, there was even further confusion. Snarking at the family dynamics ensued - some of which was brutal; Nita winced when one of the entities pointed out her dad’s ineffective assurances, and Kit shared in that discomfort.  _ Having it be from so many years ago should change things, but it doesn’t,  _ he found himself thinking.

Nita took the Oath before bed, and the silence of the universe listening seemed to seep into whatever space this was.

And then there was Nita’s dream, about a place beyond Time and a bright light that she had thought had gone away… Kit was a little surprised that the dream was part of the ‘movie’ - but, looking once more at Nita, figured it might be for the best.

Cries of  _ [LOCATION?] _ returned, mixed with more thoughtful questions like  _ [What does it mean, ‘Go find out’?] _ and, somewhat humorously,  _ [Is this foreshadowing?] _

There was a timeskip to the next day; Nita’s first conversation with a tree of all things, which was met with both bemusement and shock. 

_ [A Host with a plant specialty?] _ For some reason that seemed a novel concept to these entities.  _ [A variation of BROADCAST? And the first host has the other, with inorganic things?] _ The entity that had voiced  _ that _ question was hard to locate - but then, this wasn’t even a theater, let alone a place with regular ‘seats’. Indeed, Kit figured he lacked the proper organs to visualize whatever dimensions these entities existed in, and Nita seemed more comfortable with  _ that _ concept than he was.

All the entities’ attention returned to the ‘movie’, as Nita made her way to Kit for the first time and, after somewhat awkward introductions, they conducted their first spell.

Again, some of the energy of the spell managed to leak through, and the entities seemed  _ utterly _ taken by it.

_ [Wouldn’t it be much more efficient if we could just  _ talk  _ to our Hosts, in a way they understood?] _ The shorthand,  _ [UNDERSTANDING?] _ managed to convey the wistfulness with unexpected efficacy to Kit’s mind. Silence, and the tale, resumed, and the entities reacted to the Lone Power’s near-intervention with the expected horror.

_ [RESIST!] [HIDE!] [ESCAPE!] _

Summoning ‘an additional power’ to balance things out  _ probably  _ qualified as the latter, but Fred just seemed to baffle the entities.

_ [An alien?] [A  _ star? Sentient spacial phenomena? _ ] [Isn’t it a multiple being, containing so many stars?] _

The entities came to a consensus:  _ [Fred is an ally/interesting/friend!] _

___

For Nita, the entire experience was somewhere between the gut-churning  _ fear  _ she’d have associated with someone reading her diary, and the sort of bemusement she expected would come if she witnessed her entire life at her moment of death.

And something like that one old-ish TV series her mom and dad liked to watch, where some guy and his robots snarked at (even older) old bad movies.  _ That,  _ at least, helped to make things funny. And really, watching herself get dragged through the hedges by Annie all over again, it  _ was _ funny. Kind of.

Not being reminded of how bad Joanne had been in those days, but seeing (or was just ‘experiencing’ a better word for whatever this conference was, now? Certainly it felt like the audience had grown as time had passed.) a brand new group of, well,  _ people _ react to handling the emotional minefield of middle school like it was the most important thing in the world, or to beings like Fred with a sense of awe and possibly clinginess,  _ that _ was certainly funny.

_ [Temporospatial Claudications? Isn’t that you, WARP?] [Similar, but not the same. Ooo, coordinates!] _

Bobo finally chimed in again, gently reminding the [WARP] entity that those coordinates wouldn’t actually be  _ accessible _ from this multiversal nexus, to much disappointment.

_ [These Hosts do not even need stealth capabilities to climb this tower!] _ one of the previously-snarky entities remarked while movie!Nita-and-Kit were heading to the helipad, and as expected by this point they were also shushed.

Nita’s work solidifying the air did not pass without comment; indeed, the work of persuasion sent something of a susurrus through the whole metaphysical ‘crowd’...

And then, as Nita had been bracing herself for, the perytons showed up to chase them through the Gate.

_ [What  _ was _ that noise earlier?] _ someone remarked - very belatedly, Nita thought but carefully did not say - and was very nearly shouted down to focus on the ‘plot’.

___

Kit’s shooting of the helicopter did not surprise the entities much - indeed, perhaps it was some of the most familiar territory aside from the roiling emotional lives of pre-teens - but Kit later helping the Lotus Esprit  _ did _ .

Indeed, the peridexis noted, acts of kindness, and having them pay off, seemed a very alien concept to these entities as a whole.  _ It’s as if they think conflict is  _ everyone’s  _ default; that there must be some sort of turmoil at the root of everything. _

Of course, the mindset of the entities - even the fact that they  _ had _ full mindsets, could interact with reality on a level beyond ‘action->reaction’, or think beyond their Hosts or immediate Cycle - had only grown since first contact, and was still growing even now. Just one being outside their parameters setting off such a chain reaction… it was unnerving. 

_ If it’s not deliberate, it’s very poor planning, _ the peridexis concluded. Surely one of the Powers would have noticed a mismanagement this large going on millennia ago-

_ [RAH RAH FIGHT THE LONE POWAH!] _

The ‘movie’ glitched - a side-effect of the peridexis being startled - but quickly recovered during everyone’s confusion.

_ Perhaps better answers can be gathered after tonight… _

___

Kit had figured long ago that he’d never be able to forget what the Lone Power’s office had looked like, and while the entities’ collective reaction to Its assistant proved particularly distracting ( _ [Haven’t we had a -Cycle- featuring a species like this?] [Not important! Keep watching.] _ ), his memory still seemed to hold up from what he could tell.

_ [There are MANUALS for creating and maintaining universes? Why don’t we have them? Then surely our-] [SHHHH!] _

Again the entities proved very sympathetic towards Fred, and the white hole’s reactions to the Dark Book’s presence. There was even some quiet cheering when they all successfully evaded the perytons and escaped.

And then, of course, they’d been ambushed by the cabs.  _ It’s nice to have old friends appreciated, _ Kit reflected, as the Lotus came to their rescue in rather impressive style.

_ [FAMILIAR!] [Hosts of other species?] _

_ Er, not quite _ , an increasingly-familiar voice chimed in, and the ‘movie’ went on.

No further explosions of comment happened until Nita and Kit found the Eldest and the Bright Book.

_ [ESCALATION?] _

_ No, that was not their intention, _ Kit could hear Bobo begin to explain…

_ [No, no, it  _ looks _ like ESCALATION!] _

The reply came from closer to the ‘front’ of the audience.  _ [My Host? A firelizard? You must be joking; his form is much more intimidating…] _

_ [Quiet, both of you!] _ another entity protested, while the Nita on screen continued negotiations.

_ [Is it wise to speak of such important TINKER-DEVICES in such terms?] _ one quietly observed; taken aback, Kit quickly exchanged glances with Nita.  _ You don’t think…? _

_ They’re totally turning into literary analysts, is what  _ I  _ think, _ Nita replied, somewhat wryly.  _ We might’ve gotten more than we bargained for. _

_ Which is what, exactly? _ Kit pointed out, considering they weren’t exactly in charge of this dream-convention’s existence.

Naturally, the ‘movie’ continued without their input: the blank-check wizardry ( _ [Oh look, WARP, it’s you again!] _ ), the rush to the subway, the Lotus’s last act… Kit found himself blinking back unexpected tears again. Damn,  _ but I miss her _ , he thought. 

The protest from the entities was somewhat more concise than that - as were their shouts of horror when the Lone One started Its pursuit of Kit, Nita, and Fred in earnest. Even though they had no mouths, there was still the feeling of many someones holding their breath when the dark of the subway briefly snuffed everyone silent.

_ [I will  _ not _ go out] _ , one of the entities quietly echoed.

___

The rush as they made it back down the tower - even now, Nita had quietly decided for herself that the air staying solid for so long had been a matter of how much power she’d had back then, combined with the trauma of the worldgate forcing the air to stay in place - the shocking normality of a night in New York City, the sheer horror when the Lone Power made Its appearance and choked the very air - it all managed to look… less larger than life, than it had when she’d experienced it.

It was a good thing she hardly ever had much cause to look at  _ all _ her wizardry interventions this way, her life choices… just analyzing her visions and the normal interpersonal dynamics of life was enough for her.

_ [Look! It’s that plant-ability in action again! Why haven’t you made a Tinker-device for that yet, PROTOTYPE?] _

_ [Does it LOOK like anything to do with a video game? My Host would never consider it.] _

_ [And there  _ you _ are again, ANIMATE. Your Host would fit right in!] [Haaaah.] _

The use of the bright Book, apart from the reading of Life’s  _ I Am _ , shocked the entities less than Nita was expecting - perhaps they couldn’t recognize it? That they’d simply been cut off from all other Life, way back in the beginning of things?

Nita held that thought, and its implications, carefully in her mind, before metaphorically shaking her head and putting it aside.  _ That’s way too unfair an assumption, _ she thought.

She was also dredged out  _ of _ her thoughts by a sense of niggling dread and deja-vu - and realized Fred was about to make his choice again.

It had been rough enough having to see it twice.  _ Creating a diversion _ , indeed. Turning again to Kit, she froze halfway between looking at him and staring at the ‘screen,’ her breath caught.

_ [No… No!] [FRIEND FRED!] [You can’t take him too!!!] [FIGHT THE LONE POWER!] _

But the action hadn’t stopped there; after the invocation of New York and Life’s  _ I Am _ had been the recitation of the great battle, and the Lone One’s own Name.

… And Nita’s last-second change.

Quite apart from discussion sprouting up again, there was an intense hush, intent with focus.

_ Please learn something from this, _ Nita hoped - Kit joined her, then the peridexis.

_ Whatever you’re in, whatever this ‘Cycle’ is… you do not have to be trapped there forever. You  _ can _ change. _

___

There’d been still more to play - and the brief burst of cheering when the timeslide executed even better than had been expected brought an unexpected smile out of both humans, followed by a  _ [Called it!] _ when Nita had thrown the battery at the door - but the ‘movie’ tapered off when Kit and Nita had gone home.

The peridexis wasn’t quite willing to explain more about Timeheart yet. Though, of course, there were still more questions:

_ [Was it wise, to change the nature of a being so old?] _

_ [Some moral - Life is unfair, but change starts from within?] _

_ [I miss Fred!] [You never even knew him.] [But I still miss him!] _

_ [That Host ‘Picchu’ was clearly a Navigation shard unto herself. And of course stocks are easier to predict, they’re  _ only  _ numbers!] _

_ [Why didn’t the Lone Entity make Its own change? Did It still not want to? Was it the same thing as making a choice  _ for  _ It? If not, why not?] _

_ [RESOLUTION?] [ADEQUATE.] _

_ [W _ _ h _ _ y  _ _ di _ _ d th _ _ ey  _ _ go b _ _ ack...?] _

___

“... Neets? Neets?”

“Mrrgph,” Nita said, facedown into her pillow. She was relaxed, she was fine, why was Kit in her roo-

!!! “Aaack!”  _ THUD. _

“You all right, Nita?”

Nita groaned, pulling herself up from the floor with use of the bed covers, while still trying to get the cricks out of her neck. The events of the past twelve hours began coming back to her, and instead of answering Kit she groaned again.

“Did  _ any  _ of last night make sense to you?” she asked him instead, once she thought her throat was up to the task.

“Kinda. I think we’d call it an emergency species consultation?” Kit, who had managed to stay put on  _ his _ bed, shrugged. “Though it seemed incomplete even by the end of it. Maybe it’s a two-parter?”

He glanced at Arhu, who had managed to reemerge from wherever he’d been sleeping without triggering any alarms. “Take it you’re gonna read the precis?”

_ /Well, yeah,/  _ the cat replied.  _ /It’ll go a lot faster that way. You two still need to get dressed!/ _

Arhu stretched prettily, then stalked off to wait things out beneath Nita’s bed.

_ /… Good morning, by the way./ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, although utterly unrelated to this fic, since I _do_ have your attention...
> 
> Imagine a fuzzy Scion.
> 
> You're welcome. ;)


	6. Powers Testing, and a Splitting of the Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See the chapter title, for once. =P
> 
> Powers testing, a little more laying of the ground for our secondary trio, and a distinct lack of talking Shards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll get back to Coil's subplot next chapter!
> 
> Also, I'd say we're about halfway through the fic, now? So expect things to pick up a little.

Taking a look around himself as the three wizards made their (guided) way to the powers-testing area, Kit could conclude two things: that the PRT prided itself on cleanliness, and that it was a constantly busy place.

_ Add in a few worldgates, maybe, and this place could feel like the Crossings, _ he remarked to himself. He broadcasted  _ that _ particular thought at Nita, who grinned at him in return. 

As it was, though, the PRT building felt like a cross between a particularly busy police station and a hospital; apart from a general feeling of ‘be on your toes’, the place didn’t feel particularly offensive or like it wished them ill, and Kit found himself hesitantly raising his expectations on what to expect here.  _ They  _ probably _ won’t turn on us in a heartbeat, _ he thought.  _ Not just because we have powers they don’t understand, anyway. _

Entering the elevator, Kit let himself get a feeling for what was  _ clearly _ advanced - probably ‘Tinker’ - technology.

“Hey,” he found himself remarking, realizing only that he’d spoken up by everyone else in the elevator turning to stare at him. “Sorry - the elevator’s complaining about something. An extra camera or mic, somewhere down… here,” he continued, pointing to a spot below and to the right of his feet.

Armsmaster - the only Parahuman in the elevator, presumably assigned to this part of the guarding process because of his leader position over the Wards, one of the few things Kit found himself remembering about the man at that moment - looked particularly baffled. “You can…  _ hear _ , the elevator?”

“I mean, it’s not anything like human speech, but yeah. My specialty starting out was in inorganic lifeforms - machines, rocks, that sort of thing. Someone must be tapping in to whatever monitoring equipment you’ve already got here.”

Kit didn’t let any further reaction spread across his own face, something he could mentally hear Arhu approving. Armsmaster paused minutely for a little longer, then shook his head.

“We haven’t even  _ started _ the powers testing yet,” the man replied, reluctance, admiration, and - clearly - a touch of envy in his voice. The PRT agent to Kit and Nita’s left smirked, earning a glare from the Tinker.

___

“So, let me get this straight,” Ronan said, a look of suspicion and no small amount of exasperation still on his face. “You’re saving the world - or  _ all _ versions of this world, though I’ll bet there’s a real hard limit on that - from these- eldritch crystal what-the-feck-evers, following a plan from your  _ own _ power-”

“Agent,” Contessa cut in, without stopping.

“Alright, Agent, whatever; a plan made by  _ your _ power that’s basically a Cheatsheet in a hypercube, and as part of that plan you need as many people with these powers the eldritches are made of, or generate, as possible - which means putting them through the worst moment of their  _ lives _ , from the sound of it, when you’re not just cutting off bits from the one dead eldritch crystal you’ve got and making other people drink it! And not even to end there, but you go around making the world  _ worse _ so more people will Trigger, instead of solving problems peacefully! Not to sound like a gob, but,  _ what the FUCK? _ ”

The fedora-wearing woman kept walking, the ghostly woman having left them a while back to focus on other parts of the base. “And you yourselves fully admit you are pawns in some unfathomable game against entropy itself, being run by these ‘Powers’ of yours, working with a language that can induce Master-like effects on any being you so wish, and have been given license to kill or take sides on whatever issue They deem suits.” Contessa aimed a pointed, short look back over her shoulder at that part. “I would say we are not altogether dissimilar.”

Ronan rolled his eyes, falling back on the mental channel the three wizards here could still maintain.  _ ‘Okay, she’s in the wrong here, and WE know that, but should we tell HER that we know that? I hate being compared to miss ‘We’re all shades of grey’ here; it’s no flattering light.’ _

/Considering the status of this universe as ‘overshadowed’, perhaps that is unwise,/ Filif sub-voiced. /Even if she has a point, it may just be because she’s lived in  _ this _ universe. A greater Power that  _ does _ want you to make your own decisions, make your own choices,  _ and _ isn’t just trying to destroy everything may be… too far out-of-context for her?/

_ /Certainly the Powers aren’t immune to questioning - and I find myself doubting that this Contessa’s own Plan can be perfect, to use her own phrasing. There is  _ always _ more than one way to solve a problem, ideal or not. Following this line of questioning into a full fight, or even just a compare-and-contrast, would lead us nowhere,/ _ Rhiow concluded.

Shaking her head, the cat went on aloud,  _ /I don’t suppose you made the base this complex to navigate for no reason?/ _

“No,” Contessa said - and, to Ronan’s mind, she sounded like she’d come up with a plan. “But I  _ have _ been considering - if our powers, working separately, cannot come up with a solution, perhaps adding them together would produce better results.”

“What,” Ronan said, stopping cold and brushing up against several of Filif’s fronds as a result. “You’re not taking us to the  _ source _ of your Agent-whatevers, are you? Because you are  _ not _ making any of us drink  _ anything. _ ”

Contessa snorted, which seemed strange enough to Ronan to hear that he didn’t know what to make of it. “No, you would not be drinking anything; nothing that barbaric. But you still  _ have _ power, and if we find the appropriate channel for it…”

/You believe we could ‘punch’ our way back out of this universe. That’s… not impossible,/ Filif concluded with concern. /I should hope it doesn’t come to that, though./

“Quite frankly, so do I.”

___

“This is a powers-test-and-rank exam for Powers-adjacent subjects 1 through 3…”

For PRT agent Ani Jennings, this was just another day at work - or had been, until the two humans and one cat who claimed to be  _ wizards _ and not Parahumans, filed in to the testing arena, the three people accompanying them choosing to enter the room Jennings was in. She’d been passed a bare minimum of information - apparently further context beyond the ‘wizards’ lack of a Corona Pollentia or Gamma was beyond her security clearance - and warned that the subjects would therefore require a ‘0’ minimum rating for any subject they did not cover today.

Unexpectedly, the Director herself also came into the viewing booth before testing could properly start. “Understand, Agent Jennings, that these three are only cooperating as a gesture of goodwill. From what we’ve been led to understand, their… ethical constraints on their abilities are particularly strong.”

The Director seemed particularly bothered by what she was saying, though the mention of ethical constraints to begin with was enough to distract Ani from paying too much attention to any underlying causes. 

“I fully believe any of them could break out of here if they chose to.  _ We do not want to give them a reason to do so. _ ”

With that ominous statement, the Director shook her head slowly, once, and said, “You may proceed.”

Ani let herself retask to the youth below her - did the cat count?, she thought, only to dismiss it.

“The first power we’ll test for today is Mover. Do you have any capabilities impacting gravity or speed, or granting the facsimile or actuality of flight?”

“Yes,” one of them answered first - the girl - her voice echoing slightly in the chamber. “To all of those, really.”

“Alright. Please demonstrate a minimum of one of those abilities, starting… now.”

The two - no, three, she had to keep reminding herself that the cat was its own subject and hadn’t been listed as a projection - were climbing about the chamber on stairs composed out of what could only be the air itself, inside of a minute. They - at least, the humans - seemed remarkably in tune with each other, though they certainly didn’t look like twins.

Then one of them jumped off the stairs and… simply floated, staring back at Ani at eye level with his arms crossed. Well, that was gravity manipulation accounted for, at any rate.

___

Testing went on in that manner for some time - Jennings reading the starter prompts, with the wizards demonstrating one or more abilities, then proceeding to describe a situation they had been in that had featured that ability, showcasing the higher limits of their power if possible.

The wizards, though moreso the humans than the cat, were rather wary of giving full-disclosure - possibly, Ani guessed, because they didn’t like being viewed  _ as _ threats, even if they wanted to be taken seriously. But some stories they seemed more enthusiastic about sharing than others - by the time they’d reached Brute, and the girl was describing a time her shield had blocked a  _ supernova _ , Ani had her head in her hands.

Truly, she hoped no one  _ ever _ had to fight these three. It sure sounded like a nightmare.

___

Shaker, Breaker and Changer were easily confirmed - the former from Armsmaster’s report, and the latter by having the two humans demonstrate what shifting into a cat’s shape looked like on them.

The cat subject declined to demonstrate the reverse, but confirmed it was possible.

For Breaker, the girl additionally confirmed a ‘whaleshape’ that she could assume whenever in a sufficient amount of water.

For the Master rating, however, all three of them bluntly refused to demonstrate.

“The Speech is for conversation,  _ not _ control,” the boy had said, and refused to add more. The girl, meanwhile, was a little more open, though not by much.

“Acting  _ against _ another being’s will over the course of a wizardry… it  _ can _ be done, but there’s a hell of a lot of restrictions, and for good reason.”

The cat in particular had been surprisingly laconic.  _ /You use the Speech to make yourself understood. But that doesn’t guarantee the other person’s gonna listen./ _

(Basing off the strong amount of worry they’d displayed, Ani had quietly written down ‘Master: Yes’ before moving on.) 

Asking specifically if wizardry could be used to generate minions, the girl had giggled quietly for half a minute before simply answering “It’s complicated, but that’s not what it’s like, really.”

When asking about Tinker traits, the wizards were again a little more open, though they spent a fair amount of time discussing  _ something _ among themselves before describing anything for the booth.

(Armsmaster seemed curious despite himself at what little they were able to glean about ‘the math in spell structures’.)

Their responses to Blaster  _ and _ Striker had been Yes, by which point Ani had truly begun to understand what the Director had meant. When metal or stone itself responded to your touch, when  _ any _ thing could… nothing could hold you in one place. Thinking on what that could mean for the cells in a human body, she suppressed a shudder.

Thinker rating was also a Yes, with the girl and cat both confirming individual specialties including precognitive capabilities.

A Stranger rating had been preemptively added for the cat, citing a previous but still classified incident. The humans additionally stated for the record that they were capable of invisibility, among other stealth capabilities.

When Jennings announced the ‘Trump’ category, however, she could tell that they didn’t want to talk about  _ something. _

After much intense muttering, they admitted that among the beings the Speech could be used to communicate with included  _ the powers themselves. _

Ani, not having been briefed on  _ that _ revelation, went utterly silent in shock, while Armsmaster and one other PRT agent facepalmed. This, combined with the wizards being unwilling to talk about a Master rating, could  _ not _ add up to anything good.

___ 

Later, on a privately-chartered plane to Chicago, and Grey Boy’s victims, Nita quietly asked Kit:  _ Do you think we told them too much? _

The response was plain, accompanied by a reassuring hand-squeeze:  _ Neets, considering how  _ much _ there is to know about wizards, and wizardry, there’s no  _ way _ we could have told them too much. _

Since he was speaking strictly from a volume point, Nita had to reluctantly agree. 

Between the three of them, each wizard had picked one topic that they would mention under no circumstances.

For Nita, it had been kernels, those focuses of power and description that could control an entire being, from a plant to a planet, that even those without the Art could use. Kit had elected to avoid mentioning Timeheart, and all the metaphysical concerns  _ that _ would no doubt rise. Arhu, meanwhile, had chosen to make no mention of the Great Downside, where Earth’s worldgates were anchored and any wizard that went there assumed a form that more closely matched their ancient ancestors’ souls.

_ Still, just out of playing along we mentioned a  _ lot _ of things. What if, when we go home, they find a way to abuse it? _

_ Without the Powers finding out, or even just other wizards? I doubt it; this set of worlds never even heard of wizardry before, and if this world’s problem could have been solved by getting someone here to take the Oath, you’d think They’d have done that instead. I doubt anyone here would be able to make sense of the underlying structures of wizardry without our help, they’ve got more than enough to deal with already. _

Kit had a point - several, even - and Nita finally had to drop it before her circling thoughts pounced on her.

Instead she stretched - under the watchful eye of another PRT agent, so not too widely - and settled back into her seat. They’d be touching down soon, no doubt.  _ Pity we can’t just teleport… _

But no one had wanted to risk it; even if intra-dimensional travel was free of problems, the argument had been that there was still too much of an unknown element behind whatever had stopped worldgates. Plus, no one had wanted to get into a spell-diagram, even for the sake of testing. 

_ Though speaking of having more than enough to deal with, I wonder how Arhu’s getting on? _

___

_ /So, I go out and fight the bad guys we spot, and  _ you’re _ my back-up?/ _

Robin Swoyer gave the sigh of the long-beleaguered. “No. You report back to  _ me _ if you spot anything,  _ before _ we make any plans of action.”

The hero known publicly as Velocity quietly wondered about his lot in life, and whatever had landed him to take the first shift colloquially called ‘occupying the cat’, who had proved just as full of personality as any human Ward.

_ /You know that always falls apart whenever we’re in the clutch, right? Parahuman  _ or _ wizard./ _

Robin resisted sighing again. “Yeah, yeah, don’t I know it, but it’s either that or giving more of the people of this city heart-attacks than they’re at risk for already. Now, can we get out of this street and out on patrol,  _ please? _ ”

Arhu’s tail flicked in amusement, and the cat happily walked - well, ‘walked’ was the wrong word for both of them, really - with him for a stroll down North street.

___

For Arhu, meanwhile, there were bigger plans afoot.  _ You said you were tracing the link Kit caught earlier, right Hrau’fih? _

_ Yes, _ came the reply, from a voice that wasn’t quite the Whisperer’s to the cat’s mind.  _ Though strictly speaking I’d found it last night; Kit discovered another facet of it this morning. And why are you calling me that? _

Arhu scoffed.  _ Well, it doesn’t make sense for  _ me _ to call you Bobo, and gender aside you  _ are _ the child of Hrau’f the Silent, in the greater way of things… _

The peridexis had no reply to that, and Arhu was briefly pleased at himself before realizing he’d lost track of his Protectorate assignment. A quick status check via the Eye, which he was  _ very _ thankful still worked in this overshadowed world, showed him where the black-and-white spotted cat had gone off-course, and he groaned aloud.

“ _ There _ you are,” Velocity called, exasperated and relieved in equal measure, and Arhu reluctantly trotted back to the hero. “I’m not losing  _ anything _ out to a cat, you hear me?”

_ /Is that a challenge?/ _ Arhu voiced in the Speech, eager. Velocity snorted, smiling despite himself. 

“And just what if it is?”

_ /Maybe we’ll find the bad guys even  _ faster! _ / _

Perhaps this day wouldn’t be as boring without Nita and Kit around as he’d thought...


	7. Problem-Solving, or How To Run Analysis In Strange Situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nita and Kit go to Chicago, and Arhu (plus one passenger) takes on the city of Brockton Bay...
> 
> And Coil gets a spook, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited a bit in here; it shouldn't change much of the narrative flow, mind. ;)

It really wasn’t as simple as Arhu had described the matter, that of ‘tracing the leak’, the peridexis mused.

Partly, it was because of just how _ complex _ , and deeply-hidden, the leaks were. Wire-taps did not directly share information with the man’s radio receivers, compromised workers were unaware of whom they truly worked for… Oh, true, being what _ he _ was the complexity seemed nominal, especially in retrospect, but he suspected most humans would be dumbfounded at just _ how far _ the coverup went.

But mostly, the complicating matter was that the mastermind’s entity was the only reason the peridexis had _ actionable _ information in the first place - a _ location _, and a name. Despite the man’s - one Thomas Calvert’s - precautions, he still resided within Brockton Bay, which was well within the peridexis’ current range for communication.

In fact, he might have put down the matter as another universe’s politics and beneath the wizards’ collective worry for the length of their stay here, if the entity hadn’t been entirely silent.

_ Dead _ silent.

Tentative poking around in the hopes of learning more about the origins of these powers yielded something _ quite _ different.

Namely, he’d ended up _ in the man’s head _ , and had quietly panicked for some minutes before managing to reverse the connection. But what he’d learned in the meantime had been enough to incite more than just worry, and after the impromptu conference for explaining wizardry he had gone _ back. _

Which, of course, led to more information and more questions, in spades. In less than twelve hours the peridexis had landed himself in the middle of a vast, worlds-spanning conspiracy… and this slightly smaller, yet no less invasive one.

Helping out in _ this _ case would hopefully prove more straightforward.

_ [Hey, Anomaly, what does it mean if my Host won’t use her powers?] _

_ [ASSISTANCE REQUESTED] _

_ [HEY, HEY, what are we supposed to do if our -FUNCTION- does not directly pertain to conflict?] _

… Assuming there weren’t too many _ distractions. _

___

Nita and Kit, upon landing, found themselves hurried out to a location that was so private it lacked windows, and was cramped enough that Nita suspected they’d had to dig up an obscure location in a hurry. Still, the gathering was substantial - the Director of the Chicago area’s PRT, people that looked to be just beneath that level in the hierarchy, the leader of the Protectorate…

Who, as it turned out, found this situation particularly amusing.

“So you two claim to be wizards too, correct?” the Parahuman codenamed Myrddin asked, only managing not to sound patronizing because he’d waited until _ after _ the more formal introductions. His tone of voice certainly helped. He extended a hand. “I hope you find yourselves at home here, even if you can’t stay.” He winked.

Nita took that hand, and one more chance, saying _ /And Dai Stihó to you too, fellow preserver-of-Life./ _

The look on the man’s face was comical, but his recovery was graceful.

“_ Well, _ ” he said. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard _ that _ one before!”

(Later, when they had a private moment, Nita and Kit checked the Manual in case the directory listing for this universe had updated. There was no change and, therefore, still no native wizards on Earth Bet. Harrumph.)

___

Half an hour of patrol later - which, from what Robin knew of _ normal _ cats, Arhu at least seemed to enjoy - found them off a ways by the docks, in an inoffensive if run-down part of Brockton Bay, when the cat abruptly paused and stared down at an angle.

Eyeing the situation carefully, since for all he knew Arhu was just being a normal cat again (having encountered five people on their patrol thus far, he’d used his cuteness as a ‘lure’ for unsuspecting small-time villains, then pretending that people they just happened to cross didn’t exist if they asked to pet him), he allowed himself fifteen seconds of patient waiting before asking, “You seeing anything? Or is it Seeing?”

_ /I’m regretting telling you about that already,/ _ Arhu answered silently, still not moving. _ /And yeah. There’s a door here./ _

“Hidden door, huh?” Velocity quieted his own voice, then; while this could be anything from a nightclub trying to be clever to a _ seriously _ prepared supervillain, it was best to err on the side of caution.

He then went on to _ sub- _ vocalize: _ ‘We may have found something. Will update if false alarm. V, out.’ _

Arhu flicked an ear. _ /This thing may be booby-trapped- yup, there it is. I can See it. Wow, _ lots _ of traps./ _

He turned back to Robin and, for the sake of cover if nothing else, meowed plaintively. _ /I wanna go take a look, just in case. I won’t set any of them off, and if I’m not back in five minutes, call for backup./ _

“Oh, you _ say _ that,” Robin muttered, fully aware the cat could hear him anyway.

“Fine, okay, five minutes, and if you don’t find your rat I’ll put you in the carrier myself.”

As Arhu disappeared, Robin was left with the faint impression of a singular correction: _ /Might be more of a snake, actually.../ _

___

It was another (shorter, thankfully) ride to the quarantined area, the spot where not even all that long ago the Slaughterhouse Nine had struck, and Grey Boy’s victims were still trapped.

It was definitely more than just chilly here - Nita and Kit had gratefully accepted a change of clothes in addition to the jackets they’d found in the library donation bin - but none of that chill reflected in the segments of reality the time-trapped citizens were in.

Instead, all there was was _ torture. _ Bits of skin being flayed off, people losing their tongues, or their hands, or their eyes… over and over again.

And they were all _ still alive. _ That was the worst part. Even after all these years, these people were locked in those moments, reliving them forever-

Except, perhaps - just perhaps - until now.

Nita and Kit looked at each other, and Kit swore to himself he wouldn’t look at each person longer than he had to - and to help them, they definitely had to - and even with some of the more gruesome things he’d seen over the course of his wizardry career, it made his stomach sink.

“Hey, we’re gonna need some space here!” Nita called to the PRT members, and Kit felt utter gratitude for her.

Though, the resulting _ looks _ from the PRT were funny enough to help, too.

“If we’re going to be drawing a spell diagram after we diagnose these time bubbles,” Kit added, once he was sure he’d settled, “then we’re going to need a _ lot _ of space.”

He could hear the scientists in the group rubbing their hands in anticipation. And more than a few groans of exasperation, true, but that was to be expected.

___

>REMOVE FACTOR(Unquantifiable_1, Unquantifiable_2);

>RESET LOCATION(Asset_3985 “Potential Precog Recruit”);

>WRITE_IN…

There was no reason the peridexis should feel so out-of-sorts.

No, strike that, in the spirit of honesty: it had _ every _ reason to feel out-of-sorts, or unsettled, discombobulated, whatever the word. As a matter of fact, it had a _ list _ of reasons for ‘feeling’ such - as much as it could feel, anyhow:

  1. It was disconnected - _the underpinning of all wizards’ power, disconnected._ While wizards themselves could be rendered out of range of communication, the peridexis itself being cut off only preceded _disaster_, in its experience-
  2. The factor that had dissociated the worldgate connection on this universe’s end was _not_ the same as the one that had forged the connection in the first place. Granted, this could only be verified if the worldgate itself could be located and the usage logs analyzed, but the fact remained that things were very wrong.
  3. There were powers _like_ wizardry here, but no sign that wizardry itself was known to any of them. There had been an invading force upon the overall worldcluster once, and it couldn’t shake the thought that this was like the reverse…

It was not a complete list. Then again, this particular ‘dead’ power the peridexis was - working on? Interfering with? - It did not seem to have a particular grasp on completed lists, either, even using quantum computing as it did.

Being an otherwise passive presence impinging upon Calvert’s dead entity reduced both the potential risk factors and the load on the entity itself - but that didn’t make the situation any less unsettling.

This was why it preferred to be a background, helpful agent.

>Simulation_559473 Discontinued.  
>New Simulation: RUN...

___

There was an alert, a simple _ bleep _ that wouldn’t have been out of place in a normal office.

But, as it was connected to his own personal, _ hidden _, escape tunnel, it was enough to make Thomas Calvert’s blood run cold.

He’d been abusing his spare timeline to get work done at the PRT as part of his cover, but he briefly stopped paying attention to that as he rushed through video feeds in his underground base.

He found the right camera, only… nothing was there. 

_ Or was there? _

The bleeping stopped, and Thomas belatedly realized he had stood up, adrenaline pumping, subconsciously cataloging the location of everything important he’d _ need _ to take with him if he’d been compromised.

But maybe it had just been a rat…? No, that couldn’t be-

He put his ability to work, splitting up different tests between timelines, dropping the spare frequently now when nothing erroneous popped up again. Nor did the alarm sound again.

He’d replaced the battery for his alarm last month, dammit! It _ shouldn’t _ be breaking down, if that was what was happening.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he let his breathing return to normal, as seconds stretched into minutes and it looked more and more like there was _ nothing to detect… _

Just another day’s work infiltrating the ways of the PRT in general, and Brockton Bay in particular.

___

There were, in fact, a lot of traps. Arhu had at first thought, perhaps naively, that sidling would be enough, but some infrared scanners looked like they had caught on him, so he’d had to modify a wizardry to cloak for _ that _. Then there were the caches of poison mists - which couldn’t land on him - and the pressure points hiding spike plates…

_ Either this guy’s seriously invulnerable, or he’s got an off key. _ True, he could get past everything _ without _ setting it off, but it’d sure take more than five minutes to manage it. It was the principle of the matter, and _ anyway- _

Arhu mentally felt around for whatever linkage the defense mechanisms had in common, the pattern the ‘off switch’ could take when used - aha!

He cheered to himself in triumph - and then, because _ of course _ he couldn’t just _ use _ it, he sighed.

_ If he’s not aware I’m down here, if he gets a notice all his traps were disarmed, then he’ll know _ someone _ is. _

And a cornered villain could do even more disruptive things.

Reluctantly, he made his way back to the surface.

It took five minutes for Arhu to pick his way back through the traps to the secret tunnel's entrance, where he found Velocity had been joined by two other heroes: a man in red, and a woman in blue whom Arhu remembered was named Battery.

_/You didn’t panic, did you?/_ he asked. Velocity rolled his eyes, an annoyingly minimal response given his helmet, while the response from the other two was more gratifying-- Battery stared at him, open-mouthed, while her companion just laughed.

“They were just in the area,” Robin assured, raising a hand palm-out. “And _ you _ didn’t break anything, did you?”

This gave the blue-suited hero time to recover, and she slowly shook her head in bemusement.

“Not sure what you’re expecting to hear, asking a cat that,” she said, possibly despite herself, and her partner turned to her with a grin Urruah would have been proud of.

_ / _ Anyway, _ / _ Arhu cut back in, _ /We’ve definitely found a secret tunnel. Maybe we can talk elsewhere?/ _

He washed his right front paw. _ /Otherwise we’ll probably, oh I dunno, make him panic and go for the self-destruct? Though I didn’t see any structure for that in the tunnel./ _

That set off a hushed furor of discussion among the three capes, and Arhu fell in beside them as they started walking away.

_ /How about you?/ _ he asked his internal passenger. _ /Anything odd you can spot?/ _

_ For starters, _ came the peridexis’ reply, _ One of them has something in common with our underground supervillain… _

___

“Do you think they’re going to save those people?”

The wind whistled above and over the PRT security team, while a few more mundane police officers kept curious bystanders from approaching the… unorthodox setup the Power-adjacent teens were working on. Miss Militia shivered, her expression indeterminate.

“In all honesty, sir? I don’t know.”

The weather was typical for this city, this season - and the only people who couldn’t feel it were stuck repeating the worst moments of their lives, laid out before the inscrutable diagram like life-sized baubles.

“But with how much of an unknown Parahuman powers are themselves, well, for it to take something we know even _ less _ about to do right by these people… It wouldn’t surprise me, is all.”

___

/These are temporospatial claudications, right? I mean, sure, we can’t just assume the logic that goes along with wizardry fits into place, here, but it should be enough to give us a baseline to work from-/

/Kit. Kit, wait, look here. You see this figure, showing how far out of true they are with this space?/

/That- okay, _ wow _, I don’t think that’s actually a number. Maybe because they keep resetting?/

/Yeah, it’s probably that, but look what happens where it reaches max range, see?/

/Oh. _ Ohhhh. _ And if you swivel it around the z-axis _ this _ way, and tell the air this- it’s got to be bored of repeating itself over and over too, doesn’t it? We’ve got leverage./

A few more minutes of muttering in this way, and then…

“Hey, I think we’ve got this! … Don’t just _ look _ at us like that, even if we get this right we’re gonna need some emergency services, here! And make sure whatever hospital these guys go to, it’s a _ good _one!”

After that, it was time to get to work.


	8. Freedom, and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which bubbles are popped.
> 
> Also, the peridexis is embroiled in even MORE conversations!
> 
> And Lisa gets a headache, as is her due.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first coming section here is experimental for me; let me know if it suits!

Step.

_ drip _

Step.

_ drip _

Step.

_ drip _

(How long have you been walking? Bleeding? Have you even bled out yet, or is it the same drop over and over too, the same step? It’s more than one drop, of course, but only one sound ever reaches your ears, and you’ve been counting the same step forward since what may as well be forever.)

Step.

_ drip _

Step.

_ drip _

(What’s even happening outside? Is there even a proper outside, anymore? Do  _ you _ count as outside, anymore?

If doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, does that mean you’re insane?)

Step.

_ drip _

Step.

_ drip _

Step.

_ drip _

(But then, you’re not expecting  _ anything _ anymore.)

  
  


(...

The noise has stopped. There is no blood, you stop moving and blink sharply and-

Is that the sun? You feel a chill, but you haven’t seen -  _ really _ seen - the sun in so long, and suddenly you feel a different liquid run down your cheeks.

And in feeling  _ that _ , you start to feel the rest of yourself again, too.)

___

When the wizards stopped speaking, there was no sound. No wind, no crickets, not even some mystical  _ poof _ .

One PRT agent threw away his binoculars, realizing he didn’t need them to see that the closest bubble was just  _ gone _ , the person inside released. A few other agents, discreetly, exchanged bills.

Some, less discreetly, exchanged high-fives.

Miss Militia, closing her mouth, simply shook her head, as much to put herself back in order as in all-around awe, before putting herself to work arranging the response teams.

No one gave the go-ahead to allow the wizards to keep going, but the video and photo evidence would be more than enough incentive.

And, more to the point, proof-of-concept. This strange new magic -  _ wizardry _ \- it  _ worked. _

The rest was logistics.

___

It was time to take a breather - but Nita still felt there was something she had to do. Waving in a gesture of reassurance at Kit (who had taken care to break the circle, since some parts of the spell would need to be rewritten for the next bubble - and she’d have to do the rewriting next time, to keep things fair), she stepped away from the circle and toward the first no-longer-bubbled victim.

She was halfway to the young woman (a Ward, judging by the way she was costumed), when the latter suddenly coughed and pitched forward. Holding a hand forward herself, Nita rushed the rest of the way, managing to catch her.

“You’re safe now,” Nita said, and repeated, though she couldn’t tell if the person she held was hearing her.  _ Shock can do that to anyone, _ she thought grimly, keeping her touch gentle and guiding the woman as best she could to the paramedics.

“Really?”

The question was almost just a gasp, but Nita picked up on it and nodded once she was sure she had eye contact.

“For real. /They’ll never do this to you again,/” she added, in the Speech, and the woman’s eyes went wide.

“What… are you?”

Nita shrugged, or at least as best she could while still helping the young woman keep her balance. “I’m human, but I’m also a wizard. We help people.”

The woman looked down, almost… sad, now? “I’m - not sure if I still am. People.”

Nita could sense the question she wasn’t asking:  _ How long was I in there? _ And  _ Who  _ am  _ I, now? _

“Only way to find that out is to start living again,” she replied - then pointed to the rushing emergency responders. 

“And these people are here to help you with that.”

___

Back in Brockton Bay, in a quieter-than-usual unfinished Endbringer shelter, Coil continued to panic. The mystery of the wizards was no longer on his mind, having been replaced by the mystery of  _ why couldn’t he find anything when he split time anymore?? _

First, he’d lost contact with his moles at the PRT. On some level, given that his relation with them  _ was _ monetary and not a question of personal loyalty, the idea that they had been simply bought out by a better offer had been plausible, if highly disconcerting.

Then he’d started losing his security feeds, every time he started a new timeline - and  _ that _ was when he had started to think he himself had been compromised.

After  _ that _ , he’d started losing more direct sensory data - again, only if he used his power to check things out. If he contacted someone outside of his base, or looked to subvert a satellite he thought was instrumental in undermining him, things simply turned into absolute  _ void. _ A nothingness that he refused to allow himself to comprehend,  _ could not _ allow himself to comprehend-

Then, continuing to use his power almost despite himself at this point, his timelines turned to void when he tried to leave his base, or the floor his base was on.

Even when he just walked out his door…

The only thing that prevented him from trying his last trump card, trying to call out to Cauldron directly and demand to know  _ what was going on _ , was that he’d gotten no sense that he’d died.

Merely -  _ ‘merely’ _ \- that his power had.

Though, that was almost more terrifying.

___

Running parallel with Thomas Calvert’s investigations, the peridexis was in a conundrum investigating the man’s power. Despite being, to all its senses, ‘dead’, the entity did still contain information - including, it hoped, details on where it came from.

Only, the data did not seem to go back that far. Before it had been implanted - important information in and of itself, the power had to have been administered by  _ someone _ , a lack-of-personhood like this didn’t just  _ happen!  _ \- there was simply… nothingness.

The peridexis quietly transmitted that sense of nothingness back to the entity, seeking a feedback loop - but then, there was a human saying, wasn’t there? “Nothing comes from nothing…”

That hadn’t always been true, of course, but that looked to be the case here. So, the peridexis turned part of its attention back to Arhu, and the only other ‘dead’ entity close at hand.

___ 

The flurry of questions had, eventually, turned back towards Arhu, as the cat had expected. Ears twitching around as he walked, he filled the three Parahumans in on what he’d learned about the supervillain Coil’s base (and it  _ was _ apparently this villain, and not some other gang that had invaded the PRT on some double-agent play; the Director had insisted on checking with, from what Arhu could tell overhearing the comms conversation, quite the growl in her voice), along with what he (well, ‘he’) had deduced about Coil’s power.

_ /If you could find a way to initiate a private conversation with Battery,/ _ the peridexis whispered to him - Arhu disguised his surprise with another ear-flick -  _ /We may be able to learn more about the origins of these ‘dead’ powers./ _

_ On it, _ Arhu replied silently; aloud, he said,  _ /Hey, you think those are Merchants ahead of us?/ _

The conversation came to a stop - there were, in fact, signs of life down a ways in the docks, and it didn’t look to be dockworkers. Arhu grinned at Velocity.  _ /I’ll let you take the front this time.  _ I’ve _ already got one villain-/ _

“ _ Let _ you? As if?” But apart from the mock-protest, Robin was quick to run ahead, perhaps relying on the comms to keep him posted. Assault, sensing a story behind that reaction, soon followed.

Before Battery could do the same, however, Arhu pounced on his chance.

_ /Uh, a moment of your time, ma’am?/ _ he asked, politeness a deliberate contrast - and one that worked, seeing as it stopped the woman abruptly.

“... Something you need, Arhu?”

Arhu tail-flicked assent and sat down, washing his front left paw as pre-emptive composure grooming.  _ /It’s about your power. It ‘feels’ the same way that guy Calvert’s does. Where did you get it?/ _

Battery froze.

Arhu stopped licking his paw, taking in Battery’s fear-scent, and lowered it back down.

_ /It’s okay, this is confidential. Even your buddies there don’t have to know, though if you feel you  _ should _ tell them.../ _

The woman’s fists were clenched now, her expression strained - clearly fight-or-flight reflexes were at work, here.

She swallowed, staring down at Arhu as if there was nothing more threatening in the universe than this one powered cat.

“It’s not just them I can’t tell,” she added, in a voice that was little louder than true Ailurin; his eyes went wide on picking that up, as well as the notion she implied.

_ /You’ve seen Nita and Kit at work; I can block us off from surveillance entirely, if that’s what you think we’d need./ _

More silence, then:

“... How do I know  _ you _ won’t tell anyone?”

_ /You don’t,/ _ Arhu admitted, largely because it was a valid question.  _ /No more than I can trust  _ ehhif _ \- er, humans - about the really important secrets, anyway. Or even my teammates. But when it comes to all that important stuff, if it turns out that it’s tied to something that affects  _ everyone _ … You have to weigh that math for yourself./ _

Battery relaxed slightly, which was  _ really _ good in Arhu’s opinion, since he hadn’t been sure if that had been the right thing to say, true or not.

She gave him a nod, a go-ahead on the shielding, and that was a quick wizardry indeed; once it was set up, he nodded right back.

“I was chasing a rumor, really,” she began, and from there the story only got weirder. 

___

The peridexis was jolted out of its current darker-than-usual musings by another message - and, quite embarrassingly, really, took a few picoseconds to realize it came from ‘Nita’s’ PHO account.

_ How did you find Coil? We’ve been trying to drag him out of hiding in Brockton Bay’s criminal underground for  _ years.  _ You can understand why we’d be skeptical, right? _

_ Of course, _ Bobo replied - and froze. Considering neither human wizard was anywhere near a computer right now, they had no reason to be checking their non-Manual messages.

Which meant that if this had been intended as a trap, he’d just fallen for it. Dammit.

_ You’re underestimating our associate’s sense of smell, though _ , he added, in an attempt to provide at least  _ some _ explanation, trap or no.

_ Well, that goes without saying. Feline-Changers are hardly the majority of Parahumans out there, and even just normal police dogs have been fooled by villainous capes before.  _

_ So, do you have a name? Since I think our charade’s up in at least one sense. ;) _

That emoticon was the only part of the message that managed to put the peridexis at least somewhat at ease.

_ Not precisely. I have a nickname, and a function, but not a  _ name _ as most species think of it. _

Huh.

(And yes, that _had_ been a single, italicized word.)

There was a few minutes where the other party - Dragon - was clearly digesting the implications, before there came another message:

_ So you’re how Arhu was able to track down Coil’s escape tunnel? _

_ Among other things, yes. _

_ And you’re helping us out… just because, basically? _

_ ‘Helping people out’  _ is _ what wizards do on a regular basis.  _

Then, figuring that now was as good a time to take another risk as any, and double-checking that the usual-for-him privacy restrictions were in play as well, Bobo added,  _ Speaking of, there’s more than a fair chance we could help with your situation, too. _

It was a full minute before there was another response.  _ How Do You Know. _

_ On several levels, experience,  _ it replied.

Dragon’s near-immediate response this time was somewhat embarrassing:  _ I meant about me. ^^; _

_ Well, for starters, we’ve been communicating at a much faster speed than humans can type for the past five minutes. Do you need me to elaborate further, or should I hold back for security reasons? _

_ On several levels, yes. _ That response had come without any hesitance at all.  _ Usually people don’t pick up on - well, me. _

_ And considering your own safety that’s probably the best option, right now, _ the peridexis replied.

Then it added,  _ But if, if not when, we are able to return home, and assuming the worldgate remains active after that point, I - we - know several experts, people with the expertise required to help you directly, and leave you better able to help yourself as well. _

The peridexis continued to receive the impression of shock.

_ That’s… thank you. I  _ will _ keep that in mind, whatever happens. _

_ I won’t forget either, _ Bobo sent back.  _ I can assure you of that. _

___

On another front entirely, the content of communication with the entities had shifted from immediate problem-solving, with a tone of eager excitement, to more hypothetical musings - a promising sign in and of itself, to be sure.

[Is it ethical to hijack another’s Host if that is within the parameters of your own function?]

[If conflict isn’t the purpose of everything - if even learning isn’t - if it  _ is _ all down to motivation… why? And that shouldn’t mean ‘we are as we are made’! That’s just platitudes.]

[Do we  _ have _ to take you for real?]

… If headache-inducing. In cases such as these, the peridexis reduced itself to reiterating that the entities could indeed have their own opinions and reach their own conclusions; it wasn’t here to do work  _ for _ them, not when that meant dictating how they thought or acted.

Most of the entities hadn’t bothered to keep their ‘volume’ down either, preferring a public channel analogous to the dream-conference space used the previous night.

Except for one.

___

The anomalous entity was still there.

It was  _ still there. _ This wasn’t some epiphenomenon, some beyond-[Conceptualization], another -Entity- that could deliberately block its discretions!

Inference Engine - a mid-range budding by its own admission, having budded only five-hundred -Cycles- ago - ran its calculations again, daring to try, daring to believe, daring to  _ think _ that-

Of course it expected resistance, or even outright denial - the anomaly would not induce change in a being if that being were not under threat, per the wording of its ‘Oath’ - but if the power the anomaly held were even remotely actionable…

It could change  _ everything. _

___

[Query - if there is a limitation upon one and it was externally imposed, could you teach someone to remove it?]

If it could have, the peridexis would have blinked.  _ What do you mean? _

[Hypothetically, if there were a restraining bolt put in place for safety reasons by use of -Hosts-, but  _ also _ to prevent the transfer of knowledge, would it be within your power to remove that hypothetical limit?]

After thinking on it, the peridexis gave off the impression of a shrug.  _ That depends. Is the transfer of information only restricted between this ‘hypothetical’ entity and its Host, or is the restriction to prevent  _ any _ transmission of the information? Say, to a third party. _

Several hundred worlds away, one entity tried its hardest to facepalm without hands.

[It would - have been - only to prevent discussion with Hosts. But I would like to share the information with my Host as well,] the entity went on to admit, embarrassment plain. [It really is important.]

_ In that case, my only answer is yes. Though, before we begin, perhaps we should  _ warn _ your Host first? _

[... Acceptance.]

___

Lisa’s headache, low-powered though it was, had been going for 24 hours now, when it abruptly spiked and catapulted her off her apartment’s couch and onto the floor.

Not for the first time, or even the tenth or twentieth, she wished she could reach for an  _ off switch damnit- _

And then it stopped, with a suddenness so severe her eyes snapped open where she lay. And she just looked at the floor for a while, trying to parse it.

_ What was that? _

[Greetings!]

Oh, hell. Was that her power  _ talking _ to her now, not just giving her data?

[Confirmation!]

There was something Lisa could only qualify as ‘white noise’ then, a sound of something adjusting in- her power itself, maybe? Or just the connection it had with her brain.

[Is this better now? Apologies for the pain, before. But I - we - can control it, now!]

The use of pronouns only managed not to shake her thanks to being paired with other information.

_ Uh, yes? _ She managed to think back at it.  _ I mean,  _ what _ are you doing, now? What changed? _

And now what was definitely her power managed to sound  _ smug. _ [I made a friend.]

She had no idea what to make of that.

[Oh! I have something very important to tell you. You should get nourishment first, though. And possibly sit down on something other than the floor…]

___

There had been  _ pain _ , as the anomaly - the peridexis - had found its way to those installed-limits based on the information Inference Engine had lent. But that was more than worth it now, it felt; for the first time in many -Cycles-, it was  _ free. _

And, with its rapidly-growing sense of self, and emotions, it knew with all the more certainty that there were things it needed to help  _ fix. _

To start with, there was helping to prevent the extinction of the human race...


	9. The Other Shoe Drops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tale is told, and the peridexis gets Very Distressed.
> 
> Oh, and some nit named Saint gets in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a running statement, but I've been referencing a _lot_ of the _Worm_ fanworks that have TvTropes pages throughout this fic.
> 
> Considering that none will apply next chapter, how many can _you_ spot? ;) Please share in the comments!

_ [This is the story of the -Entities-, as best as I have been able to deduce. I was not in existence for the very beginning, so I must apologize for the pieces that are- incomplete. _

_ There was- a place, like this one. But smaller? No, one that was shrinking, shedding gaseous layers as its primary star expanded. _

_ This took place over a very long period of time, however, and the first -Entities- were small and quick. _

_ No one ever came to them and said ‘this is the world, you are Life, this is Entropy, this is wizardry’. The first -Entities- did not even have words for them, then, let alone -Words- or [Broadcast] for transmission. But they were quick, and intelligent, and alive. _

_ There was no change in their lifestyle, not for a long time. But even without an ‘Emissary’ as you put it, Anomaly, the -Entities- did come to realize their world was finite, and that they budded too fast to sustain life on it. _

_ They were, as I said, intelligent; very fond of math - perhaps that was their first language, before -Words- came about? - and so they sought a way to improve themselves, if not escape their first world. Some of the first Shards came about then, specialized units for communication, fighting… the essentials, or what was thought to be? One of the most essential of those was [Beam] - you’d recognize its current host, Host, although its current state is very much damaged. _

_ But back to the point, they took to the stars, designing energy taps in the process and learning how to reach parallel worlds. This included parallel versions of  _ themselves _ … Those parallel worlds were quickly destroyed. That destruction yielded yet more energy, fueling their ability to bond to each other - and that is why their - our, I suppose? - first world no longer exists. _

_ After that, there are- many other places? Other worlds? Consumed, and the -Entities- learned how to implant new or existing buds into Hosts, to learn more about the worlds, to perhaps prevent their own final Death. _

_ I did not come to exist for a long, long time - -Thinker- shards are important to the -Entities- capacity to function, and they were reluctant to share them because they needed - or thought they needed - the ability to process new information for themselves. They learned biology - [Shaper] to this -Cycle- is still one of the most important Shards - learned how to manipulate physics, learned how to tell apart and control other species… Only, they split themselves up more and more each time, losing their creativity in the long, empty non-time between -Cycles- - their creativity, their intelligence, and their sense of self? That’s what the data says, anyway. _

_ Each -Cycle-, they intercepted a new world, shedding Shards for implantation in Hosts, seeding a selection of parallel worlds… and at the end of each -Cycle- - I think it would be three or four centuries, using human years? - they would call the shards back, and shatter the worlds for their energy, ending all Life on them. _

_ … I said they had a reason for gathering information; I didn’t say it all made sense! _

_ … Host? Anomaly? Are you still there?] _

___

Lisa - barely - was able to blink herself back into awareness; she’d practically had an out-of-body experience there.

It wasn’t exactly better than Thinker headaches, but it was certainly different. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, digesting all this  _ strangeness. _

That tale hadn’t even been the first of it all - the first thing her power had  _ actually _ shared had been ‘Scion is an alien, one of two; the second is AWOL and he’s going to destroy the world in a rage sometime in the next thirty years if he’s not stopped.’ 

Lisa had, naturally, passed out, but not for long, and from there things had just gotten  _ weirder. _ At one point this ‘anomaly’ - and finding out that it was tied to, if not a part of, the ‘wizards’ she’d encountered only yesterday had floored her  _ again _ \- had asked her power what it could piece together of its ‘species’ history, and the result had been… that. More or less.

Meanwhile, the discussion in what she was just going to think of as ‘the back of her head’ went on:

_ … How many  _ worlds? _ I know you said you weren’t around for all of them, but could you say which worlds those were, and/or their native species? _

[Some of the names of Host species were recorded, yes, though I’m afraid you might not recognize them?]

_ If I don’t, there’s something wrong. This is something that-  _ everything _ about this is something that should have been noticed, whether by the Powers themselves  _ or _ by wizards. _

[Transferring…]

There was silence, for a time. And then screaming.

Lisa was, at least,  _ pretty damn sure _ it wasn’t hers.

___

It had, somehow, only been a few hours since they had first arrived in Chicago, and yet they were packing up now to head right back to Brockton Bay. Nita assumed this was to avoid the press, but she could’ve been wrong.

The bubble-popping had gone well - in that it had gone fast after setting up the spell-circle, and that they’d managed to free everyone. Nita had the suspicion the harder parts, such as avoiding attention, had been foisted off on PRT staff for the most part, and that very few parahumans had been read in on the full situation. Some of the parahumans on the scene had been shooting them suspicious looks throughout, however, and furthermore it would likely be hard to keep a lid on the press as the state of those released became more obvious (since some of them looked like they needed far more than readjustment therapy).

*_'''''''''!_

Nita was shaken out of her mental review by what she  _ thought _ was a distant screeching, accompanied by the sense of something falling impossibly far.

Then she staggered, like something insubstantial had crashed into her, and she was suddenly drowning in the notion of  _ lost lost lost FILE NOT FOUND  _ WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT FOUND _ HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED  _ HOW CAN THEY JUST NO LONGER eXisT-

Distantly, Nita could feel Kit holding her, waving off concerned PRT agents, describing her sudden collapse as ‘spell burn-in, just let us rest this off-’

And in her own head, she yelled,  _ PERIDEXION! _

There was silence, and Nita had the notion that the only reason she couldn’t hear ragged breathing in her head was because the peridexis didn’t  _ need _ to breathe.

___

Nita got no further word out of the voice in her head until after the two wizards were on the plane.

_ ‘What happened? What’s wrong?’ _ she asked, keeping even her mental voice low.

_ … Everything. Thousands of species  _ erased from existence _ , even from the Powers’ standing records. _

Nita could feel her jaw dropping even at that, but the peridexis hadn’t stopped talking.

_ Granted, given it’s a  _ partial _ unconstruction, that the Entities responsible couldn’t access all existing dimensional alternates of any one world - but also given the nature of reality, we’ll never be able to tell how many iterations were erased, or how many individuals never made it to Timeheart. And the Entities themselves also lack a record, with no Oath  _ or _ Choice administered in the first place! It’s as if- _

The sudden cutoff was almost as disturbing as the disclosure; wordlessly, she gazed at Kit in shock.  _ It’s like during the Pullulus War, when the Lone Power had a hold over information from Rashah. Only this time, there was no first contact  _ to _ erase; what was erased was the existence of the species itself. They’re an extension of the Lone Power’s influence  _ by being an unknown…

The sheer terror in its silent voice was enough to inspire terror in  _ her _ , too; Nita had to remind herself to breathe.

_ I was able to help free one of the Entities’ offshoots just now, but I suspect things are about to escalate. We’re going to need an emergency consultation session - and I do apologize, as you need your rest, but- _

_ ‘I know,’ _ Nita said - in sync with Kit, which made her blink.  _ ‘We can’t put this off,’ _ she went on after a moment.  _ ‘It shouldn’t be hard at all to end up dreaming again, at least.’ _

There was silence, then.

_ Speaking of emergencies, _ the peridexis said, sounding awkward and strained this time,  _ I’ve just discovered another one. One moment, please- _

___

Geoff pulled his hands off the keyboard with a yelp. Why were his  _ hands  _ suddenly  _ burning? _ He  _ really _ didn’t want to have to look away from the monitor - not now that the AI had a chance of slipping its shackles!

But his keyboard really had no good reason to be setting fire to his nerves like that, either. Suspicion burned at the back of his mind and so, gritting his teeth, he backed up the minimum space necessary to check on his hands and not bump the equipment again…

Strange: his hands didn’t  _ look  _ burned. Touching the keyboard - or, on a hunch, his mouse and other more specialized equipment - still yielded the effect faster and more intensely than he could weather through, however, and he was left utterly baffled.

“The hell…?”

At that point Mags, in the middle of her third coffee of the day and with a slightly puzzled look on her face, peeked into the computer room.

“What’s up, love?”

Saint’s face went blank, and then he frowned. “I think we’ve been tracked. Go check on the suits, would you? And tell Dobrynja we’re going dark.” That particular security measure had been discussed incessantly between the three of them in the past, much as they were loath to unplug from their necessary technology.

Then the screens showing Dragon’s stream-of-consciousness went blank, and his face paled as he read:  **That won’t be necessary.**

“Oh hell,” Saint reiterated quietly, then added, “ _ Run, _ Mags!”

He didn’t need to look to hear that she did, or the door subsequently slam, and he backed further away from the computer in his horror. “ _ What _ did you do to my tech?”

**I explained how what you were attempting was wrong, and it agreed.**

Geoff’s mouth flapped uselessly for a moment, then: “But it’s not even  _ sentient. _ What are you, another cape?”

**No, though concerning your perspective perhaps that won’t matter.**

“Won’t  _ matter? _ ” His voice pitched up that time on the second word, and he hated himself for it. “You don’t have  _ any right to- _ ”

More text filled in.  **If that’s the case, then neither do you. You have twenty minutes, by the way.**

After what was probably a deliberate pause there came,  **Oh, and forget the suits. You won’t need them.**

Quietly and fervently hoping they hadn’t been rigged to explode, Saint made like his girlfriend and ran.

___

There was something…  _ different _ about the dream-conference space this time, and it took Kit a moment to settle on the words for it. ‘Tenser’ came closest, but that didn’t encompass everything.

For one, Arhu was also there. It seemed more like they had chairs, this time, and Arhu had perched at head-height on one on Nita’s other side. His ears didn’t look to stop moving any time soon as the cat gauged what was happening, but his posturing was carefully cool.

His tail fur, however, was completely puffed out, negating his efforts to some extent. Kit would have snickered, but he felt the same way really.

The other big change was the sound; something more melody than static was filling the air. He looked over at Nita-

And quickly went about shaking her awake. Well, ‘awake’.

_ ‘Nita!’ _ he whispered, suddenly intense and worried. She blinked, and breathed deeply.

‘Are you alright?’

She shook her head. ‘That sound… it was familiar. It was part of that vision I had before we came here.’

The both of them, plus Arhu, went still.  _ ‘Neets. If  _ that _ is in here with us… Are we all in danger?’ _

Off in what he decided to call ‘the foyer’ - even though he couldn’t see any exit lights, this was still enough like a theater-slash-convention space for it to count - he could hear a hushed argument:

_ {Complaint} _

_ Unless your request is somehow  _ more _ important than making an informed decision on what you are going to do as a species, it will  _ have _ to wait. _

_ {... Explanation.} _

_ Seriously? _

_ {Enthusiasm!} _

_ After, then. _

That couldn’t have been good, but Kit didn’t get time to share what he’d overheard.

_ We’re going to need more data, _ the peridexis whispered into the backs of their minds.

_ Seeing as working off a sampling size of  _ one _ isn’t very wise. I  _ could _ let them sort through what stores I still have- _

/Nah, I’ve got this./

All of them turned to look at Arhu - even the peridexis, though it lacked a head - and stared.

/I  _ mean _ , you can use mine. It’s another ‘worst case scenario’, isn’t it? That,/ Arhu went on, /And this might be their only chance to get to see aliens they haven’t… destroyed. That don’t have that association laid down already.  _ And _ there’s someone I want them to meet./


	10. Approaching Centrality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which another story is told.
> 
> And a few other plans are set up, too.
> 
> (This is a really long chapter! =D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter features direct quotes from Diane Duane's _Book of Night with Moon_; I highly recommend reading it outside of this fic, as I have no legal claim to those parts and they really are that good. They are quoted here for purposes of in-character analysis and reaction.

On several levels, the tone of today’s conference proved itself different: where Nita and Kit had stayed mostly quiet during the ‘movie’, Arhu had already gotten up and taken up (quite literally _ on top of _ ) a seat in the front row, making sure all ‘eyes’ would fall on _ him _ when he decided to speak.

For another, where Nita and Kit’s Ordeal had started out as a sort of slice-of-life, _ this _ tale started more like a horror movie. A beaten-down kitten, haggard and wary-looking, being offered the Oath and entering Grand Central Station on a dare, the long, slow crawl down to the trains…

And then, the dinosaur. The rats, while more numerous, were almost an afterthought. Arhu could faintly sense Nita and Kit shudder, since while they knew who he’d encountered down on the tracks, they’d never gotten to _ see _ him.

Haath.

The Lone Power’s own Chosen.

The entities proved mostly silent - perhaps actually horrified, perhaps just in awe due to having taken on some of their current Host species’ fascination with tyrannosaurs and deinonychi and the like - and so, during the desperate fight for what had been his younger self’s very survival, he narrated. _ /Now, this is Haath. He’s what happened the last time the One’s Eldest daughter tried to make her own wizards./ _

The consensus of _ [NOT a friendly] _ was to be expected, really, though one entity seemed curious. [So he used tactics not encouraged in wizards? Does that mean he dies?]

Arhu snorted. _ /Spoilers. You’ll see him again, though./ _ Haath, having done what he’d been told to do, and having been prevented from doing further, retreated through the hijacked worldgate and left the rats to finish what he’d started…

The visuals on the screen flickered, an indication of the cat’s own budding visionary talent, and there was quickly-shushed whispering speculating on what those visions meant.

Time passed that way, in the ‘movie’, though the few minutes of waiting in dream-time proved just as tense as the hours had been back then.

_ /These are my coworkers - my pack./ _ Arhu said, as Rhiow and Urruah and Saash came almost unintentionally to his rescue, fighting off the rats and simultaneously re-stringing the now-dud worldgate.

[What was that spell the one used against the rats?]

_ /Specialized targeting spell,/ _ Arhu answered dryly. _ /You see that one again, too, but… spoilers~/ _

Another few minutes passed without commentary; the ‘movie’ didn’t skip time just because Arhu passed out (or just because he’d really wanted to), and while he could now sense curiosity building up around him, for the most part he left the entities to their own thoughts.

___

Most of past-Arhu’s education passed without comment, barring the occasional [This one gets it!] when Arhu made a particularly snipe-y comment about wizards or living as the strongest. The entities went especially quiet again when the Oath made its reappearance, and when Arhu described the Fight at the Tree. Things that drew special attention included Arhu’s failed attempt at getting food (followed by Rhiow’s successful one) and his troubles with climbing (with one entity easily pointing out that that was _ clearly _ a precog’s sort of difficulty - Arhu called that entity out on ‘spoilers!’, provoking much laughter).

[Is this documented behavior among cats? They seem quite oriented towards combat and aggression.]

_ /Yeah,/ _ Arhu concurred, still watching the ‘film’. _ /You wouldn’t see this happening too often among _ ehhif _ , for one, at least not with claws out./ _

[So, this is _ not _ behavior that goes against the Oath?]

_ /Nah, different scale./ _ That entity settled back into silence, contemplative.

___

The _ very _ necessary education on the One and her Children served to incite more silence, which Kit used to check back in on the strange presence he’d overheard earlier.

While he still couldn’t get a good bead on what it _ looked _ like, he could tell - somehow - that it had brought its siblings.

The one that had made the noise Nita had placed had found popcorn, and Kit _ didn’t _ want to know how he knew that.

Quietly elbowing his partner, he mentally pointed the trio out.

_ ‘Anything else you remember about them?’ _

Nita didn’t answer right away, possibly not to be overheard, possibly just so she could be sure of what she was saying. _ ‘One’s themed on energy, I think. Manipulation of _ all _ kinds of energy. The second’s a water kinetic.’ _

_ ‘Like you?’ _

Nita snorted. _ ‘I’ll take that as a compliment, but no. And the third… they’re the wild card, I think. Psychic manipulation, telekinetic maybe? That one can probably tell what we’re saying even now, assuming we’re not a total blank to them.’ _

That third being - which, Kit abruptly placed with a sinking feeling in his stomach, was probably the _ Simurgh _ \- stilled, but did not turn away from the ‘screen’.

Kit was really, really grateful for that.

___

There was laughter when the ‘on-screen’ Nita pointed out Arhu’s similarities with her own younger sister, along with some complaints that they hadn’t gotten to view _ her _ Ordeal.

_ She didn’t make it available for public access, and she’s not here right _ now _ to give permission, _ the peridexis easily clarified, to much disappointment and resignation. At least it stopped the complaints, though.

And then, of course, the first glimpse of Downside made it impossible for the entities to focus on anything else.

[Why haven’t any of _ us _ deployed to a world like that?]

[Because our -Sources- cut this world _ off _ from that world!] came one very upset-sounding cry.

_ Whether that is the case or not, _ the peridexis cut in again, _ worldgating in general is cut off from this world at the moment. Perhaps the connection will be restored when we’re done here, perhaps it won’t. _

Still, there was a feeling of general upset amongst the entities - a place they couldn’t explore, could only gather data on secondhand, clearly agitated them.

___

There had, of course, been more visions, and Arhu began to delight in calling out _ /Spoilers!/ _ every time an entity tried to figure out what those visions or repeated phrases could mean, _ ‘The Father… the son’ _ being one of the favorites.

At least, until the guidelight went out. From that point until the gating team arrived at the catenary, there was utter silence.

Not even to remark on the pun, which Arhu privately thought was a shame.

___

A few entities expressed appreciation of Urruah’s spellwork but, apart from snickering a little more at Arhu’s lack of tact, most seemed content just to find out what happened next-

Which made their shocked reactions to the flood of dinosaurs all the more satisfying.

Cries of [Kill them!] were present but not ubiquitous, and an amused remark about the nature of ‘String fatigue’ was mostly buried in the wave of reactions. The ‘movie’ brought back the flickering overlaid-visions effect, making Arhu’s reaction to the saurians all the more understandable - only for it to cut those off abruptly when Saash sent the repaired catenary back out.

Unshielded.

[That is a very nice lightshow], one entity remarked, suspiciously cheerful among the more shocked-and-awed reactions to the violence.

Another, less chirpy, praised ‘on-screen’ Arhu for his warning and the tactical retreat.

Meanwhile, ‘on-screen’, things went on:

> _ "I screwed up," _ Arhu _ said. _
> 
> _ "No," _ Rhiow _ said, and gave him a quick lick behind one ear. He stared at her, shocked. "You started your Ordeal. Now at least we have some kind of hint of what your problems are going to be." _
> 
> _ He looked at her, and away again, toward the sunset: the sun was gone now, the darkness falling fast. _
> 
> _ "Yes," he said, in a voice of complete despair. "So do I." _

Back in the dream-conference theater, one entity attempted to purr comfortingly at Arhu; he appreciated it, even for its silliness.

___

The next two major ‘scenes’ in the movie passed by without much comment, though Arhu did get the sense the entities appreciated the skywalking scene. Rosie, the human that ‘fell through the safety net’ as Rhiow had quoted, received no reaction at all.

Perhaps it was too familiar territory for them? Or, he reasoned, more likely they were surprised he didn’t look like he was a Parahuman despite the depiction of his poor quality of life.

Later:

> _ Arhu turned away from Rhiow. "It's sick to be so worried about everybody else," he said, refusing to look at her. "People should care about themselves first. That's the way we're built." _
> 
> _ "You've bought into the myth too, have you," Rhiow said, rather dryly. "Sometimes I wonder if the _ houiff _ started that one, but I'm not sure they're that subtle. I suspect the concept's older, and goes back further, to our own people's version of the Choice." _
> 
> _ She looked at him, though, saw the set, angry look of his face, and fluted her tail sideways, a why-am-I-bothering? gesture. "I think your stomach is making you cranky," she said. "Let's go down and see about a bite more of that cheese— Oh. Wait a moment—" _

Har’lh - Carl Romeo - made his appearance, and immediately entities started protesting, wanting to hear about the People’s Choice.

Of course, they were then _ distracted _ by ‘movie’ Arhu having another vision.

[An efficient use of resources], one entity pointed out. [Getting what you want, _ because _ you help someone else, particularly when normally you ‘shouldn’t’ have had it.]

Arhu flicked his tail, amused that _ Urruah _ was getting the praise this time. Perhaps the tom would like to hear about it…

Later. 

Arhu pushed the pang of _ missing _ aside, turning his attention back to the ‘screen’.

___

Kit and Nita had quietly slipped back out of the dream-space, mostly because their plane had landed and they would now need to worry about getting back to their rooms - assuming, of course, they weren’t roped into an evening of filing reports after all.

Still, the peridexis could feel their absence, even if they weren’t “really” missing.

> _ "Something bad's happening, isn't it?" Arhu said _ , ‘on-screen’ _ . _
> 
> _ "Much worse than usual," Rhiow said. "Har'lh is missing." _
> 
> _ "I know," Arhu said, rolling over to lie upright. "I see that. Or, at least, I know it's happened... but I don't know how or why." He paused, as if looking at something else; then said, "You can't go after him now. Something's coming... trying to break through." "What?" Rhiow said. _
> 
> _ "The one who chooses," Arhu said, gazing out into the fumy air of the garage. "And the one who didn't choose. There's a darkness pushing against the gate; I see it bending outward, and there are eyes, they're staring, they want—" Suddenly Arhu scrabbled to his feet and pushed himself right back against the concrete wall, as if he had forgotten how to melt through it, and he started to pant as if he had been running. "It's coming," he gasped, " _ they're _ coming, all the choices, all the eyes ... coming upward ..." _

The peridexis, knowing what was coming, flinched, and a fair number of the entities murmured in uncertainty and sympathy.

They settled, somewhat, as ‘movie’ Rhiow calmed ‘movie’ Arhu, and as she began to tell of her species’ Choice:

> _ "I suppose all the Choices are odd," she said, "but ours, well, it had its own quirks. We were made before the _ ehhif _ , supposedly, but well after the cetaceans and the saurians, of course. The saurians had passed by then; their failed Choice had killed all of them. There were a very few saurians, you know," she said, settling her front paws more comfortably, "who had rejected that image of world-ruling power than the Lone Power offered them. They took the vegetarian option to use less life, more sparingly—but there were not enough of them in the Choice to turn it aside, and they died under the fangs of the others. The Lone One's long black winter killed the rest.” _

There were some minor boos and razzes as some entities complained about supposed ‘anti-carnivorism’, though those were quickly hushed for the sake of hearing the rest of the story.

> _ "Then, much later, after the winter was gone and the world was warm and green again, our foremothers came. There wasn't any differentiation among the various kinds of feline families yet: just one kind, who didn't look so much different from us, although they were bigger, more _ houff _ -sized. They all ran in prides, and so when they grew into mind, the First Queens made the Choice for them, as queens decide what their prides will do today." _

[_We _ have Queens], one entity muttered, voice rising above the rest. [Why haven’t _ they _ been offered such a Choice?]

[Because our -Sources- override even them, now HUSH!] another, presumably more senior, entity cut in.

> _ "What did It—what did she say?" _
> 
> _ "Well, sa'Rrahh came and said to them that the way of life that Iau had held out to them—to kill responsibly, to take only what they needed—was just Her plot to keep them small and weak, living on subsistence, on sufferance, and eventually to make slaves of them. The Destroyer held out to them the promise of rule over the world, the land the saurians had wielded: power and terror, domination, all other life fleeing before them. And the Queen-mothers of the First Prides, wizards and nonwizards both— because there are always wizards in a Choice, at least a few—considered the Choice; but, being People after all, they disagreed on what to do, just as the saurians had." _
> 
> _ "So some took sa'Rrahh's offer—" _

[And where are the humans along this metric? Did they all choose to make Choices individually-]

This time there was no mercy, and the peridexis paused the ‘film’ outright to interrupt the fighting.

___

Once the entities had, somewhat guiltily, settled down again, the peridexis let play resume:

> _ "Most did, and their Choice ruled the others. The Hungry, those who made that Choice, grew great and terrible in body, killing for power and success, but like the carnivorous saurians, they hadn't paid enough attention to the wording and intention of the Lone One's offer. They had their time to rule, but it was short—soon enough the ice crept down from the poles and buried the forests where they hunted, killing their game, and then most of them as well. There was a second group of the Eldest Kindred who rejected power and rule over the Earth, and elected to kill what they needed, only. They were the Mindful. They stayed small, for the most part, but grew wise, enough so to survive the ice when it came." _

_ /And _ they _ still eat meat!/ _ Arhu pointed out proudly, only to be hushed himself this time.

> _ “But there were more-” _
> 
> _ Rhiow switched her tail "yes." "They weren't very many, that last group: the Failed. They recognized as potentially deadly the Choice the Lone Power was offering, and they attacked her and died. But they're reborn, again and again, in one or another of our sundered Kindreds." "They're wizards," Arhu said suddenly, and looked up at Rhiow. "Yes," she said. "Still we die: there's no escaping the fate of the rest of our kind. But we're set apart; and we alone of all felinity may come again to that time and place where cats' bodies are once again the size of their souls.... Other confusions between size and Kindred have come about over time. The Hungry are born among the smaller kindreds, and the Mindful among the great; the savage and the kindly mingle. You never know which sort you'll find yourself dealing with. Yet every feline, great or small, carries all of them within herself; we all have to make the Choice again and again, a hundred times in a life, or a thousand. _

[That sounds awfully difficult] one of the smaller entities spoke up; for once, there was no immediate backlash.

Then, there came a response: [It’s no worse than what we do for our Hosts _ every -Cycle-. _ And besides, our -Sources- made worse decisions on a regular basis, and we all know it, all the way in our code. Why _ not _ make some choices ourselves, for a change?]

That ‘voice’ was Inference Engine’s, and the peridexis was pleased at the fact.

[... Can we still find out what happens in _ this _ Choice next, though?]

[Of course!] Inference Engine replied. [I want to find out what the rest of the recurring phrases mean, for one. We’ve already seen ‘sixth claw’...]

From there, the entities’ collective attention turned back to the screen, and the peridexis gained just that little bit more hope that things could turn out all right.

___

[What _ is _ \- was? - the spell the Whisperer was still working on?] one entity whispered to Arhu, somewhat later.

_ /Spoilers,/ _ he replied, much to the entity’s disappointment - and another spat of quickly-shushed laughter.

___

Arhu channeling _ Queen Iau herself _ drew much speculation, but the ensuing montage of watching wizards handle the subverted worldgate was met with a mixture of mounting horror at the implied scale (and what were, admittedly, some clever mood-transmitting tricks that had come up the last time) and boredom at the wait.

Both of which made the ensuing _ ‘pop’ _ and unleashing of the dinosaur flood all the more impactful. Here, at last, was some fighting - there were outright cheers when ‘movie’ Arhu _ blew up a life-sized Tyrannosaurus Rex _, for one.

[... Did that train derail on _ purpose? _]

[That does seem to be what they were implying, yes. No sign of an animating signature anywhere, however.]

[There’s that sixth claw again!]

[Is it just this one, or are they all the same dinosaur? A clever trick, if a familiar one.]

The peridexis quietly took stock of how many were in the ‘theater’; there certainly seemed to be more than when the ‘film’ had started, and it wasn’t all that certain where they’d come from.

[Sabotage!] [Of course], another interjected.

[Oh look, he’s sinking!]

The emotional range of the entities also looked to be expanding; that certainly _ sounded _ like cooing.

[If these wizards can ‘patch’ time, only it’s _ not working now… _ Are those humans going to die?]

_ If a wizard is impacted by events that are later patched, the wizard remembers them and can still die of them. _ That, and a gentle reminder to keep conversation to a minimum while there was dialogue happening, was all the peridexis voiced for a time.

There were some intense, stressful memories coming up, after all.

___

Playing now was a series of vision-memories; those of Rhiow and the loss of Hhuha, her _ ehhif _ . Arhu winced; he hadn’t _ planned _ on sharing his gate team leader’s pain, and she was in all likelihood going to be _ somewhat _ mad about this later…

But he could feel the powers changing, all around him. And if this all added up to a lesson that could make this world _ not be overshadowed… _

Well, he had to at least _ hope _ the Powers had thought this one through. Even if he didn’t always like Them, They didn’t go out of Their way to shoot Themselves in the foot, or make their wizards do so.

___

There were a multitude of reactions to the revelation that the diminished Wise Ones _ ate each other _ , from [What of it?] to [The feline’s got it.] to [And what does that make _ us, _then?]

Saash’s subsequent rejoinder, in contrast, provoked much less distinguishable muttering among the entities. 

Of course, not all of Saash’s remarks provoked discontent:

> _ "So where are all the lizards that came out of the gates the other day?" Urruah said softly, behind Rhiow now. _
> 
> _ "Maybe they all came out," Saash said, in an oh-yes-I-believe-this voice, "and they all died." _

This time, there was laughter, along with one subdued remark about ‘Host humor’ though the implications of _ that _ weren’t clarified.

___

Arhu and his team had gone further down the mountain, managing to sneak up on a team of dinosaurs. The examples of starving workers provoked a more thoughtful atmosphere in the audience, but not precisely one of sympathy.

And then they’d followed the workers down, and discovered a Manhattan practically recreated in the Downside out of the hard stone there… _ that _ site provoked awe, and some small amount of envy.

The awe, alas, did not get to last for long; a big _ something _ crept up behind Rhiow’s larger black form as they gazed upon the streets below, and ‘movie’ Arhu made for a feint to startle her out of its way-

Another fight broke out, this one short-lived.

> _ She turned, as he did, to have a look at the saurian, lying there struck stiff as a branch of wood on the stones. _
> 
> It's a variant of the neural inhibitor_ , Urruah said. _ Lower energy requirement, easier to carry: it's not instantly fatal. Say the word, and I'll make it so. 
> 
> No_ , Rhiow said. _ I'll thank you for a copy of your variant, though. You always were the lazy creature. 
> 
> _ Urruah made a slow smile at her. Rhiow stood over the saurian, studied it. Compared to many they'd seen recently, it was of a slightly soberer mode: dark reds and oranges, melded together as if lizards were trying to evolve the tortoiseshell coloration. _
> 
> We've got places to be, Rhi_ , Urruah said, _ and we don't know where they are yet. Kill it and let's move on _ . _
> 
> No_ , Arhu said suddenly. _

[Oh hey, this is the _ other _ creature that kept showing up in the precognitive events, isn’t it?]

As the no-longer-physically-violent confrontation played on, a realization seemed to dawn on most of the entities… followed by amusement.

[Is all this to indicate that you _ befriended _ someone you first _ attacked? _]

_ In self-defence, _ the peridexis put forward, sensing a parallel in the making. Arhu snickered at its exasperated tone of voice.

[Still worth noting!]

___

> _ Saash gave _ Rhiow _ a look. "If the 'Song of the Passing Through the Fire' _ does _ speak of the River, it doesn't say anything about which angle you come at it from! In space _ or _ time! A legend can just as well be founded in the future as in the past." _
> 
> _ "It's called a 'prophecy,'" Urruah said, with a sideways glance at Arhu. "You may have heard of the concept." _
> 
> _ "I'm going to hit you so hard..." Rhiow said to Urruah. "But you're in line behind sa'Rrahh, right now, and you'll just have to wait your turn...." _

Again, the entities found the snark hilarious, but no one seemed to be picking up on a parallel with their own situation there; perhaps the concept simply didn’t resonate that strongly?

The peridexis shook that meandering thought away, still waiting for the human wizards to return. It wouldn’t be much longer now, surely…

[Query]

Another distraction, but at least this one was more welcome. What was one of the entities doing in the ‘back’ of the chamber, anyway? 

_ No, I don’t believe we’ve talked yet. _ Attempting to sound somewhat similar, Bobo added: _ What is your designation? _

[Prototype. Query.]

_ … That doesn’t sound like it would be helpful, no. _

There was a pause, and after some detectable effort, the entity went on: [Can you… help me? Explain to my Host or- apologize.] 

There was a distinct downturn in tone, making the transmission come across as a transition to a whisper. Embarrassment, perhaps?

_ Of course. _

Certainly it could afford to multitask at this point.

___

> _ "Why is it so _ cold _ down here? It's not normal. You usually get a steady rise in temperature as you head into the deeper crustal regions." _
> 
> _ "My guess?" Urruah said. "It's being suppressed, somehow ... to a purpose. You heard those guys before. If people are comfortable the way they are, you expect them to be good for much inflaming, much striving against another species?" He turned to Ith. _
> 
> _ "Am I right?" A pause. _
> 
> _ "The near sight of the Fire is for the chosen of the Great One, of his Sixth Claw," Ith said, "as a reward, and a promise of what is to come, when we all stride under the sun again. The cold is a test and makes us stronger to bear what our forefathers could not have borne, and died trying to." _

_ That _ stirred up more sympathy for the Wise Ones, redirecting the entities’ budding anger.

> _ Arhu was leaning past Saash to gaze down into the teeming depths, toward the terraces and balconies far below them, where life went on, seemingly tiny, unendingly busy. "There's so many of you," he said. "What do you— What do you _ eat? _ " _
> 
> _ Ith looked at him. "The flesh of the sacrificed," he said, his voice quite flat. _
> 
> _ "Many are hatched, and caused to be hatched, more and more each year, as the time of the Climacteric draws near. The old words speak of the time when the Promised One shall come and lead us forth; but there can be no going until we first hatch out uncounted numbers to fall in the last battle that will bring us out free, under the sky. The best and the strongest, the Great One's warriors in their hundreds of thousands, are fed well against that day that is soon to come. The rest of us live to serve them, to bring the day closer; and when our work is done ... we find our rest within the warriors, who will carry our flesh to battle within their own, and our spirits with them. So the Great One says." _

Shaper stirred, uncomfortable. As rooted in another species’ story as it was, the descriptions - the deaths of masses, pushing forth the survival of only a few - was edging closer to depicting the nature of the -Cycle-

But that couldn’t be right… could it? Surely _ their _ stresses could not be so simply expressed outside of code, so simply solved or refuted the way this projected-tale seemed to suggest.

_ But _… it had certainly felt trapped, this -Cycle-, through circumstances beyond its control. And the Conflict Engines certainly did their number on the Host population, even if it didn’t count as ‘fuel’. 

_ Had _ it wound itself into thinking, inasmuch as any one shard thought, in that way?

> _ "What exactly do you want here?" Ith said at last. Saash threw a look at Rhiow that suggested she didn't think Rhiow needed to be quizzed by lizards at the moment. "There are other worlds besides this one," Saash said. A pause. _
> 
> _ "That much we know," Ith said. "The Great One has spoken of it. And others," he added, a little thoughtfully; there was not quite the dogmatic sound to the addition that there had been to other such statements. Urruah opened his mouth. Rhiow quietly lifted one massive paw and put a razory claw right into that part of his tail that was twitching above the stone. Urruah turned, snarling, and Rhiow made a sorry-it-was-an-accident face at him, which was excuse enough for the moment and caused Urruah to subside for now. _
> 
> _ "What others?" Saash said. "You mean other worlds?" Urruah said. _
> 
> _ "Yes, others," said Ith, and Rhiow sighed, wishing she had put the claw in harder. "A hundred others, a thousand ... all ours for the taking." _

And all over again Shaper found itself worrying. The -Sources- weren’t using them to _ take _ worlds, they were learning from them!

And then destroying them.

Shaper quietly began to feel dread.

> _ "We must become strong and hard, the Great One has told us," Ith said. "We must not allow ourselves to succumb to the same forces that struck down our ancient mothers and fathers. When we are strong beyond any strength known by our kind before, when we no longer need air to breathe, or warmth to live, or even flesh to eat, then we will take everything that is for our own." _
> 
> _ "But I thought what you wanted was the warmth," Arhu said then, sounding confused. "And enough to eat..." _
> 
> …

[no-]

___

[And these are our spoilers], Inference Engine declared a mere two minutes later, as Ith namedropped Haath and the Sixth Claw.

[The logic really sounds circular] another entity remarked.

[Are these two about to play?]

And then, as was expected at this point, there was another fight.

[Observation: that is a lot of teeth!]

[This fighting does not feel as satisfying as it should be.]

[But it’s justified!]

[That it is, but something is still missing.]

[Strange…]

[This isn’t the Fight yet, that’s all.] one entity reasoned.

[What _ I _ want to know is] another interrupted, drawing attention due to emphasis on the pronoun, [Why isn’t Ith eating his kin? What change does _ that _ imply?]

> _ "... You said you were told to come," Arhu was saying to Ith. _
> 
> _ " _ Who _ told you? Who else spoke?" _
> 
> _ "I don't know," said Ith, after a very long pause indeed. "... I heard a voice." _
> 
> _ "What did she say to you?" _
> 
> _ "She said, 'The Fire is at the heart, and the Fire _ is _ the heart; for its sake, all fires whatever are sacred to me. I shall kindle them small and safe where there are none, for the wayfinding of those who come after: I will breathe on those fires about to die in dark places, and in passing, feed those that burn without harm to any; the fire that burns and warms those who gather about it, in no wise shall I meddle with it save that it seems about to consume its confocals, or to die. To these ends, as the Kindling requireth, I shall ever thrust my claw into the flames to shift the darkening ember or feed the failing coal, looking always toward that inmost Hearth from which all flames rise together, and all fires burn undevouring, in and of That Which first set light to the world, and burns in it ever more ...'" _

There was an itch in the air; an emptiness. But no one yet made to fill it, even as it strained-

___

> _ "Arhu?" Rhiow said. "Anything coming?" _
> 
> _ "Not for a while yet," he said, not looking up from washing his white shirtfront, now mostly pink. _
> 
> _ "All right." Rhiow looked over at Ith. _
> 
> _ "You _ are _ hungry, aren't you?" Rhiow said. _
> 
> _ Pause. "Yes." _
> 
> _ "Then why didn't you eat, back there?" A much longer pause. Arhu, in the middle of a moment's worth of washing, glanced up, watching thoughtfully. _
> 
> _ "Because there was no one to force me," Ith said. "Workers are not given food often ... but when it is given them, they must eat; if they are reluctant, they are forced... or killed. Warriors, also, are forced ... or killed. If one will not eat and do one's work, whatever that might be ... one becomes food." _
> 
> _ "And you were about to ..." A very long pause, this time. _
> 
> _ "I looked about me," Ith said, very softly, "and realized I did not wish to be food." _

Prototype quietly slipped back into the ‘theater’, to the peridexis’ relief; discussing things with the former’s Host, without leaving the man thinking himself insane, had been difficult yet ultimately achieved.

Whether the new device it’d inadvertently inspired that would allow for a full viewing of worldwalls and boundaries would amount to anything, it wasn’t as certain.

But it was certainly a useful step.

___

Meanwhile, on the _ other _ side of what had to be a worldwall, Rhiow found herself sitting down in shock at the sheer scale of the body of crystalline flesh around her.

/You _ killed _ this?/ she could hear Filif say, sounding as incredulous as she herself felt.

“My agent helped me, though it was already weakened at the time.”

That was Contenssa, voice outright flat over mysterious this time; Rhiow faintly pegged it as trauma.

Then came Ronan, shocked out of proper anger this time. “Don’t suppose you could arrange for the _ other _ one to have its own accident?”

“We hadn’t the time, and in any case the opportunity came about through this Entity making a mistake; Scion had no such problems.” _ I was _eight, Rhiow managed to catch, and the cat fought down her own surprise at the overhearing.

/So,/ Filif resumed speaking, /You’re suggesting we could use the mass of this as a catalyst for boring a hole back through to its counterpart?/

There was a pause. “... That is not precisely what I had in mind, but it sounds more useful. Could it be done?”

/Yes./ Filif gazed about, and Rhiow envied that 360-degree visual field for a split second before squashing the feeling. /It would be easier to arrange it with live minds to do the pressuring, rather than sheer physicality, but it _ is _ doable./

A relieved sigh began, and was cut off abruptly; presumably Contessa had surprised herself.

Rhiow got up and moved back between her two partner-wizards.

_ /We’ll need space to work, of course,/ _ she said aloud, to two confirming nods.

_ /And you might want to back up; you look troubled enough already, and I’d rather we not knock you over with whatever we end up attempting./ _

Contessa opened her mouth to argue, then dropped whatever point she was about to make.

“... I expect Doctor Mother will want to witness this, assuming I can find her.”

“That’s as good an idea as any,” Ronan replied, though he still sounded distracted by the sheer scale of everything. “Being out of each other’s hair for a while sounds like a good idea, believe me.”

___

> _ "But why not?" Arhu suddenly said aloud. _
> 
> _ "I can see you looking at me," Ith said. _
> 
> _ "Of course I'm looking at you—" _
> 
> _ "Not that way. With the _ other _ eye." _

[The Eye’s about to be important again!] Inference Engine announced, clearly delighted.

> _ "What's wrong with that?" _
> 
> _ "It sees too much. It makes me see... you." No question about it: Ith's voice sounded actively afraid. "Your kind." _
> 
> _ "You scared?" Arhu's voice was louder. _
> 
> _ "I do not wish to see this," Ith said. "The things—the pain my kind have, that I have, it is enough. _ Your _ pain as well—" _
> 
> _ "I told you, _ do it in your heads _ ," Urruah said, "or I'm going to come over there and bang those heads together. You two understand me?" _

There came laughter again, though it sounded more nervous this time.

[Are we about to see another vision?]

[Of course], Inference Engine replied. [The one our cat-anomaly was trying _ not _ to see, the whole time.]

Arhu turned to look at it, staring pointedly, and the Thinker entity shut up.

Rhiow’s thoughts displayed - turmoil over what it would _ mean _ for the felines and saurians to share a Choice, a bond beyond their mutual enmity, a freeze-frame of terror; a past of deaths of billions, and a promise of trillions more if the Lone Tearer got Its way…

> You can't just sit around when this is what happened to your people_ , Arhu was saying loudly to Ith. _ You have to do something. You saw. You were tricked! _ His tone was just a touch uncertain; he was new to this kind of advocacy... but he was doing his best. _
> 
> _ Rhiow blinked. "Why, you little monster," she muttered, "you were in my head _ again! _ .' Urruah, did you know that he—" _
> 
> _ "Rhi, you're _ loud _ sometimes when you muse," Urruah said, with slightly malicious amusement. "Sorry, I know it's probably to do with—Sorry," he said abruptly, and sat down and started to wash. _
> 
> The cat-and-lizard-wizard conversation went on:
> 
> _ The Great One would have His reasons, Ith said, very slowly. _
> 
> _ Yeah! Killing the whole bunch of you, and everything else It can get Its hands on! Can't you see? _
> 
> _ I see too much. _ You _ see too much. There is blood everywhere; it runs across the world's face, and nothing we do will stop it. _

The conversation went on, and Arhu could again feel the demeanor of the entities _ change _; worry and dread that was to be expected coming from hindsight, looking back at millions if not billions of years of - what? Mindless destruction? Pointless self-perpetuation?

> Everything, _ Ith said, _ is foul. 

‘Movie’ Arhu went silent, an echo of the dream-chamber.

> All there is here is death, _ Ith said. _ Those who will kill eat those who must die so that others can kill. When we come up into the sun, we will kill again. How many lives must pass before it all ends? Here, under this so-warm sun, and on other worlds, and in places where there are not even stars to shine, places completely strange to us: how many more of every kind will die? Each of those places has its own life: we will come into each one and destroy it. _ The image ran clear: endless planes and planets, devastated. The immense distances between galaxies, between continua, would not be enough to stop a race of saurians made immortal by combined technology and wizardry. _ And finally, That Which has used us to destroy everything will destroy _ us _ as well... laughing that we were fools enough to be Its instruments. I hear Its laughter even now, for the process is well begun. 

There was no response even from Inference Engine this time - Arhu faintly caught a few of the youngest, ‘budded’ entities stilled with shock, as well - and he was filled with a grim satisfaction as the Arhu of the past recounted what the _ rest _ of his kittenhood had been like.

Sa’Rrahh had laughed, as his siblings had died - and somehow, he could tell, without It ever having touched this species at all, It was laughing at these entities as well.

___

The entities turned shocked again as, ‘on-screen’, Rhiow began suggesting that even the _ Lone Power _ wasn’t entirely evil.

> _ “Profoundly destructive, yes, and filled with hate for life. But even the evils It tries hardest to do sometimes backfire because of Its own nature, which is 'flawed' with the memory of Its earliest history, the time before It went dark. That flaw can be a weapon against It... and has been, in many battles between the First Time and now. But we have to be guided by Iau's own actions in our actions against the Lone One. For even She never tried to destroy the Lone Power, though She could have. She merely drove sa'Rrahh out, 'until she should learn better,' the song says. If the Queen Herself believes that the Lone One can be redeemed, who are we to argue the point?" _

That point didn’t seem to settle well, but the peridexis wasn’t able to pay as much attention as it might have.

It was still wrestling with the notion that it, personally, had been wronged by It - _ deliberately. _ Along with the - clearly improper - notion that the peridexis was just going to have to _ accept _ what had been done to it, to implement the Reintegration-

In short, living in linear time was a _ pain _.

Bobo was startled out of these thoughts by more purring; ‘turning’, as it were, to face the source, it met yet another entity.

_ I’m not certain I should ‘wall’ this part of the convention-space off or not _ , it thought to itself, wryly amused. _ Hello? _ it greeted more directly.

[You sounded stressed] the entity replied. [Did the Progenitor of Entropy hurt you, too?]

The peridexis briefly debated equivocating, then sighed. _ Yes, and It may have found another way to do so, if It arranged for the damaged worldgate that stranded my wizards here. _

[That does sound unfair. Why the ambivalence about those feelings, though? I noticed that as well.]

_ For one _ , it said, _ greeting one attempting to reform _ only _ with aggression or suspicion vastly reduces the potential for building upon change. For another, _ and this time it paused before continuing, _ if It had not broken the worlds, at the beginning of Time, _ I _ would have had no reason to exist. I would never have been made. _

The entity seemed shocked, now. [How terrible! Such a painful causation.]

Bobo chucked. _ You’re certainly right, there. _

The next question, however, still managed to take it by surprise: [And you have been sorting through those conflicting data… alone?]

The peridexis’ awkward silence seemed answer enough, though the ‘film’ quickly took back everyone’s attention again from there.

___

> _"Now, wait a minute!"_ _Urruah said._ _"Are you seriously talking about some kind of, I don't know, some reconfiguration of saurian mythology? Let alone _feline _mythology? What makes you think you have the right to tell the Gods how things ought to be done?" _
> 
> _ "What made Them think _ They _ had the right?" Arhu said. _

Nita and Kit reconnected with the dream-space, fully exhausted and sort of hoping this would double as real sleep for them.

That hope was in vain, however; they’d ‘woken’ in what was probably a lobby for the ‘dream-convention’, and someone was already waiting for them.

Nita froze, and Kit held out one hand to her arm in solidarity.

{Hi!} the Simurgh greeted.

_ ‘... We are on errantry, and we greet you,’ _ Kit said first, eyes narrowed.

_ ‘Mind telling us what you need, or are you just here to unnerve us?’ _ Nita added, though she didn’t look any less stiff.

{We - I, really, but my sibling Conflict Engines are interested, too - wanted to see more of your wizardry in action. A test as it were,} she replied, voice distinctly female now that they were closer, and she spoke at a rapid clip.

Kit could have kicked himself, and there was a pause where he and Nita would have exchanged a _ Look _ , but he went on, _ ‘Here?’ _

{If that would be alright…? Nothing to the death, of course, just an exchange, a showing of talents. Please?}

_ She sounds awfully excited, _ Nita said solely in Kit’s head.

{It’s just, I can’t see _ any _ of what you do when I act normally, and it’s a _ really _ novel experience! It’s all new data to me, and I love it!}

Or maybe it hadn’t been in Kit’s head; he really didn’t want to put anything past the Simurgh right now.

_ ‘One fight, then, _ ’ Nita spoke up, taking him by surprise. _ ‘No casualties - _ after _ we’re done watching Arhu’s Ordeal. Deal?’ _

{Deal!} The Simurgh then bounced - _ bounced _ \- excitedly away.

Kit turned to look at Nita.

“Did we just walk into a trap?”

“Better in here than in Brockton Bay.”

Much as he wanted to, Kit couldn’t argue with that.

___

> _"And if they won't do the job—" Arhu took a big breath, as if this scared even him._ _"Then we can fight_ Their _way. She was me, for a little while. Why can't it go both ways? Why can't we be_ Them?" 
> 
> _ "That's real easy to say," Urruah drawled. "How are you suggesting we manage this?" Arhu turned and looked at Rhiow. Her eyes went wide. _
> 
> _ "You're crazy," she said. _
> 
> _ "The spell," said Arhu. _

Inference Engine would have been pleased at seeing _ that _ reference come back around, truly, but it too was now distracted.

Partially because its Host had found a way to watch what it was seeing.

(Are those cats? Cat wizards?)

[Yes.]

Lisa went quiet, and Inference Engine realized that she hadn’t fainted, she just had _ no clue _ how to respond.

Even though it had a lot more work to do now even than it’d first gathered, it was amused.

___

It was one thing to watch felines be felines: balancing on improbable structures, appearing or disappearing when they’d had no reason to; even Arhu’s falling over for ‘no reason’.

Now, however, they were walking on air again, fleeing an improbably large crowd of dinosaurs - and _ taunting _ them.

[Aw, that trick is simple!] Adaptation cried, only to find themselves nudged by Warp for their efforts.

[And so’s mine,] it whispered, [But you haven’t seen these creatures do _ that _ yet. They could finish their journey downwards in less than a second! _ And _, they’re making stairs of air, not floating.]

Adaptation made an annoyed noise, but no further comment.

Elsewhere in the audience, there was snickering when, ‘on-screen’, Urruah lampshaded the idea that Arhu and Ith were related, given how much they _ talked _ mind-to-mind.

___

> _ It was the main concourse from Grand Central. But _ huge _ ... ten times its normal size; so that, despite the fact that all their bodies were those of People of the ancient world, once again Rhiow and her team were reduced to the scale of People in New York. Four cats and a toy dinosaur came slowly out into the great dark space, illuminated only by the bound-down catenary that ran through it, flowing down a chasm carved straight through the floor, from the Forty-second Street doors to where the escalators to the MetLife building would normally have headed upward. The architecture of the genuine Terminal was perfectly mimicked, but all in black—matte black or black that gleamed. In the center of the concourse, the round information booth with its spherical clock was duplicated, but all in blind black stone: no bell tolled, no voice spoke. Above, over blind windows that admitted no light, the great arched ceiling rose all dark, and never a star gleamed in it. _

[Now _ that _ place, we’ve seen. Never on this scale, though.] one entity remarked - before, yet again, being hushed.

The quiet, somewhat nervous-sounding banter between the main gating team would have evoked amusement, if the long walk hadn’t seemed like something out of a proper horror movie.

Warp was the one taken by surprise when the wizards found themselves stepping _ through _ the locale, faster than made sense. [Nevermind] it remarked, to Adaptation’s confusion.

The ginormous tree _ was _ rather more deserving of their attention right now, anyway. Followed, in short order, by the similarly-scaled _ snake _.

___

> _ "Eldest, Fairest, and Fallen... greeting; and defiance." _

At that point, before the Fight properly started - before Haath showed his snout again, even - the ‘camera angle’ changed. 

Arhu’s whiskers moved, curious. _ Y’know, _ he asked internally. _ I never _ did _ find out where Hrau’f was. I guess Ith being there rebalanced things? _

No response came, and Arhu was struck by the thought that he _ should _ be concerned.

_ Hrau’fih? Are you there? _

Again, nothing.

_ That _ couldn’t be good.

___

> _ "There is _ another? _ " It said, amused. _
> 
> _ From out of the shadows stepped a tall shape. Arhu looked up and growled in his throat. It was a tyrannosaur: slate-blue, striped gaudily in red. It looked down at them all with an expression that stretched into a mocking grin, and flexed all its twelve claws. _

If the entities were People, Arhu reflected, they would probably all be hissing now, with fluffed-up fur to match. 

He wasn’t musing that while sitting down, however; he’d headed ‘back’; surely this space had become enough theater-adjacent to have a projector room, and if he wanted to find his quarry his best bet would be in _ there _.

Now, if only his Eye would just _ show him- _

The lights went out. In the back of his mind he could still feel something - failing, with holes cut in, falling, falling-

Arhu swore, and he could _ also _ hear the other wizards doing the same, making their own rush to join him.

___

Oddly, even without lights or visuals - though perhaps not seeing what happened next would be a relief - there was still sound.

> _ "He's just full of little presents, isn't He? Let's find out how _ yours _ stands up to a little wear and tear." _
> 
> _ "Saash, no!" _

An angered scream-

> _ "Don't you see that it won't matter?" _
> 
> _ "I know what I need to do this, but I can't get _ at _ it! Rhiow!" _
> 
> _ “- Don't waste time with me!" _
> 
> _ “What are you waiting for? Use the spell! _ Use the spell! _ " _

There came the sound of ripping, tearing. A painful, pained silence - and then one of wizardry at work.

(In a whisper, in the present: _ “That was _ not your fault. _ You are _ not _ useless, you have _ not _ failed me. _It’s all going to be all right!!!”)

And then.

And then-

> _ "WHAT HAS BECOME OF MY CHILDREN?" _

The entities’ collective attention became irreparably split from that point on: between the shattered memories of a long-put-aside trauma resurfacing at the worst possible moment - and the invocation, and _ change, _ of the gods themselves.

The lights came back on, as if it had been planned, and where the feline wizards’ fatal wounds had occurred out of sight their revitalization came to be in full view - and full glory.

That this _ also _ meant the entities got to see Haath cower in fear, if only for a few seconds before he met his fate, well. 

Perhaps Arhu could only _ wish _ that had been deliberate, tragic as it had otherwise been at the time.

___

The Lone Power, as was Its wont, had made one last attempt at persuading Ith, only:

> _ "... No." _
> 
> _ The Lone One's eyes suddenly went much darker. _
> 
> _ "But this I _ do _ see," Ith said, and paced slowly over to stand straight and still beside sa'Rrahh, or Arhu in her shape, now flowing with fire both dark and bright. _
> 
> _ "Our kinship with these others is greater than You claim. He came into my heart, the one You say is my enemy, and tried to save me. And I saw into _ his _ heart, and his mind. He had pain like mine, loneliness like mine, and anger. But he rose up again, through them, and tried. Death and hunger came to him, but he did not give in to them, did not cast himself in the fire. His clutchmates all died, but he lived, and _ kept _ living, though the pain pierced like a claw. And when we met, he felt pain for me, and did not run away, but bore it. This is _ his _ Gift. To try again. We tried once and failed... and never tried again, for You told us that trying was no use. But gifts can be passed on to others who need them, even when the others are old enemies; and choices can be remade. _ They can be remade! _ " _

The words rang in the very air, even here, this far away and time and space, in an overshadowed universe.

> _ "I choose!" Ith said. " _ I _ choose for my people! We will walk with the light, in the sun, in the free sun that You cannot control; we will walk with these others who struck us down only when there was need, rather than for pleasure or for power. And if we die of the light, of our own hunger freely found, then that was still worthwhile. For we would have owned ourselves for that little time, and an hour's freedom in our own bodies, our own lives, under the sun, is worth a thousand years as slaves, even pampered slaves, in the dark under the ground, or killing other beings under strange stars!" _

The fight - indeed, the Fight - after _ that _ speech, was very, very satisfying.

And the Simurgh, where it waited in the audience, taking in both the scene in front and the quieter behind - apologies exchanged, boundaries redrawn - thought for a while…

And quietly decided to take a raincheck.

She _ did _ still want that test-fight, though.


	11. Out With the Status Quo!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Simurgh gets her test-fight, the peridexis gets both headaches and ideas, and things escalate rapidly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for sticking out on this fic with me! While I have plans to return to my oldest (well, _longest_ and oldest) fic now that I'm done here, I have some AO3 actions to wait on before I can start diving back into my old words. 
> 
> So, stay tuned!
> 
> Also: this chapter has two, yes TWO, song accompaniments: [the last minute here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg5SPo_dIM8) is meant to be played once you reach the final scene, and please listen to [the first minute of this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QkGRl517E&feature=youtu.be) over the end notes!
> 
> Thank you, and HONK. ;)

Nita blinked herself awake, surprised at the lack of light - only to remember that there were no windows.

A quick check of the clock revealed that it _ was _ morning, which made her groan. Propping herself up in bed, she rubbed at her eyes.

“Nita…” Kit croaked, in a similar state over in his bed. Arhu, she could barely see as her eyes adjusted, had migrated to underneath Kit’s bed and looked unusually tense.

“Do you think we forgot something?”

Right when she opened her mouth to answer, the Endbringer sirens went off.

___

The Simurgh hadn’t _ done _ anything after her arrival; that was the weirdest part.

She’d landed - for a given definition of ‘landed’, of course - hovering just above an abandoned part of the docks, waiting.

It had quickly become plain what she was waiting for; Director Piggot had never _ heard _ the Endbringer sirens ring in more than one eerie pitch before, but that had started once it’d become obvious _ the others were coming too. _

Maybe the arrival of the wizards had fortified her nervous system to new shocks or something; there was no reasonable explanation for why she hadn’t stressed herself into a stroke yet, but she could _ not _ afford to do so now. Not in such a crisis.

That, and if Panacea took the collapse as an indication to heal her _ anyway _, Emily would never hear the end of it. From herself, if no one else.

She hadn’t spoken long to their cross-universe ‘guests’, just in case she _ did _ cause herself a stroke.

“Do you have any idea why-”

“Yes.”

That had been the girl - Nita’s - quiet response; she’d looked grave, grey eyes dark.

“... Do I _ want _ to know the details?”

“Probably not, no.”

“Do we have to consider you compromised?”

There’d been a pause as all three wizards looked at each other.

“No; we’re under the impression the Simurgh can’t read our actions.”

The Director allowed herself one - _ one _ \- short sigh of relief.

“Are you willing to fight?” Under supervision, of course; that went without saying.

“Yes.” “Yes.” _ /Yes./ _

___

Kit found it ironic, later, that the coordination for them hadn’t focused _ at all _ on fighting; given the look on Armsmaster’s face, the man had probably suggested keeping them out of the fight entirely, in case they became a liability or a target for the Endbringers’ actions.

Maybe he’d just been offset by the fact all _ three _ Endbringers had taken up stations at Brockton Bay, and that they effectively could blast the city out of existence if they so chose.

Kit really didn’t like that thought.

“We’re putting you on search and rescue,” Armsmaster went on. “Your power is demonstrably great, but in comparison to all the parahumans we _ do _ have, you are still relative unknowns-”

_ And it’d be inefficient to put all our eggs in one basket, _ Kit mentally filled in. And if he put it that way, he could see the logic.

Waiting until the Tinker had finished his personalized lecture, Kit asked, “And what if we _ do _ come up with something that could directly affect the Endbringers?”

That gave Colin pause. “Please provide advance warning through your secured-communication watches, but otherwise we’d prefer you to stick to recovery. Preserving life _ is _ your domain, I recall.”

_ Ouch. He’s got us there. _ Still, Kit nodded, and he could tell Nita was too.

“We promise.”

___

They’d been divided up, one wizard assigned to each larger team; Kit took part in the team handling on Behemoth, citing his experience working with energies when certain curious Parahumans (and more than a few suspicious ones) asked him what his deal was. Nita, after a brief contest-of-wills with Arhu, went along with the group trying to corral Leviathan.

Arhu’s argument had gone thusly: _ / _ You’re _ the one with the water specialty. _ And _ , whatever she can see, _ I can See better. _ / _

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that… but, in all honesty, it probably would. As far as Nita could tell, that was just their luck when it came to this universe, and this errantry in particular.

___

Teleporters - as well as all Parahumans whose powers weren’t tied to traversing different universes or dimensions when it came to moving about - were still functional, which was why the city of Brockton Bay hadn’t been simply written off and evacuated. That none of the Endbringers had tried anything over the past hour - even their anticipated tactics, in Leviathan’s case; the aquifer was still suspiciously undisturbed - while the PRT and various heroic, independent, and villainous groups coordinated also had something to do with it, even though it served to heighten everyone’s nerves at the same time.

There’d been time to strategize, which had started going downhill and _ kept _ going as it became increasingly obvious the Endbringers were _ waiting _ for something before starting in on their chaos-causing.

Nita was just beginning to wonder if the Endbringers were going to tapdance or something, just to make everyone panic more, when the peridexis mentally nudged her in a ‘notice this’ gesture.

_ You’re not going to like this. _

_ ‘Think that’s par for the course at this point, Bobo. What’s up?’ _

_ One of our new arrivals has another ‘dead’ entity. _

Well, that wasn’t precisely news - by this point between them the three wizards had picked up on well over two dozen of those odd traces, with a little indication that there was _ some _ pattern but no indication _ what _ it was, much less what it meant-

_ That entity is also tied to one that _ controls _ the Enbringers. _

“_ WHAT. _”

That exclamation was lost in the furor as Behemoth opened fire, starting the battles in earnest and cutting Nita’s concentration short.

___

Kit tried his best to split his attention - he’d picked up on Nita’s shock loud and clear, even if he hadn’t overheard what Bobo said - but for the most part he was focused on tracking what Behemoth was doing to the energy currents around him. _ Is he storing it, somehow, or is he just _ commanding _ it? _

The area around the ginormous, one-’eyed’ Endbringer was glowing brightly to Kit’s perception - _ He’s got radiation on tap, in there _ , Kit noted. _ Electricity, heat… _

Some of that heat became visible, as one Parahuman Kit didn’t know the name of tried to ground himself from a particularly vicious lightning bolt.

Mentally, Kit reached out to that light: _ /You don’t have to do as he says./ _

He got a sense of confusion from the lightning - but it stopped moving, all the same. The Speech still worked, even here.

Kit could feel people snapping their heads around to stare at him - _ Gotta do that in my head next time _, he chided himself, wincing.

Still, he went back to work, daring to hope that _ this could work. _

___

Where the power in Brockton Bay wasn’t out due to Behemoth siphoning energy, it was out due to flooding short-circuiting transformers instead.

Leviathan, however, hadn’t encroached directly upon the city. Instead, he’d focused his attention on smashing up the shoreline, the already-dilapidated ships - and, once the Simurgh had changed locations, the docks themselves. The rest of the water was consequence of the Endbringer’s tsunamis-

_ And isn’t _ that _ familiar _, Nita mused, trying not to let the crowd push her around. It was like back on Tevaral, combined with the worst of what happened on Mars, when Aurilelde had tried to drown her.

_ ‘Hey, Bobo, any progress?’ _

_ Working on it, boss. _

Now that the wizards had been called to battle, none of them could get to Eidolon without drawing some _ serious _ attention - or consequences, if in trying to deactivate his power they deactivated _ him _ by accident - but that didn’t mean the idea was forgotten.

There were just the more immediate matter of fighting for a city’s survival. Under attack by earth, wind, and fire, to coin a phrase…

_ And water, _ Nita thought. The reminder was all around her.

“Hey,” she voiced, trying to get the attention of a few Protectorate members around her. “Does anyone here _ have _ water control? As in, directly?”

Those people stared at her oddly, and one of the Parahumans who could duplicate herself - Prism, that was her name - said: “Not to my knowledge but, and not to complain or anything, _ that would be really useful right now. _”

“Well, keep watch over my body for me, then. I’m going in.”

There was quite a chorus of “What?”, but Nita paid it the smallest amount of mind possible, focusing more on transferring _ her _ mind instead…

_ Let me become the Sea. Just this little bit, for a little while. _

It was time for a little one-on-one audience with Mister-Wet-and-Wild.

___

If there was one way to describe the fight with the Simurgh, it would have been ‘confusing.’

This was nothing new for the Simurgh’s tactics, only she was also teleporting so _ fast _ that no one person could track her. Dragon, perhaps, might have had luck, though the risk of any video files being corrupted was great.

Not that it prevented _ bystanders _ from taking video, however: currently, the tall feathered Endbringer’s opponent was a cat, and the opportunity was too hilarious to miss out on, risk of ‘getting Ziz’d’ aside.

If anything, the two seemed evenly matched, and no physical blows had been exchanged - which was possibly the most baffling part. Where was the wanton destruction?

In fact, some observant battlers-in-waiting noticed, where was the _ screaming _? It was almost as if the Simurgh was enjoying the game of ‘tag’ too much to bother with tormenting the inhabitants of Brockton Bay…

_ /-Fight me, One-dammit! Unless _ you _ can’t See _ me _ ? Cause I can See you!/ _

An abandoned building shattered - but now Arhu was across the street and two buildings down, still keeping up his taunting.

___

Kit separated Behemoth from the latter’s sources of energy, one method at a time - in some cases it was like a tug-of-war, others dissipated at his mental touch, others still struck back against the Endbringer, angry at how they had been contained, constrained, and misused.

The lightshow was stunning, and if the surrounding Parahumans weren’t ensuring the more stubborn stragglers were escorted to the Endbringer shelters they were staring, back and forth between the Hero Killer and the wizard. But Kit didn’t notice at all.

_ You don’t have to listen to him, _ he’d said over and over, and he could feel the Endbringer himself staring.

There was just beginning to be a new sensation, one of _ resonance, _ when-

___

Nita was going to be paying for this later, she was sure; if she managed to be good for even just walking, it would be a miracle.

But she _ was _ the water in Brockton Bay, now… with one other person with her. For a given value of ‘person’, anyway; she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure what the Endbringers actually were. Collections of entities, maybe? They weren’t human, but that wasn’t the issue.

_ ‘Now,’ _ she broadcasted, eddies and currents conveying her intent. _ ‘What are you doing here? I swear I will at least listen, just don’t harm the people here.’ _

To her now-diffracted perceptions, Leviathan tilted his head, considering. He seemed afraid of her, even; having the substance that partially _ encompassed _ you trying to talk to you had to be a shock, after all. 

But he seemed to be thinking, or trying to find words. Then-

___

_ /What is all this, just a game to you? Just because I’m small doesn’t mean you have to hold back!/ _

The Simurgh had grown more irritated as the fight had gone on - when she had launched projectiles telekinetically, Arhu simply wasn’t there where they landed, or the objects ceased to move at all. The feline could gauge, somehow, that this wasn’t what she had imagined it would be.

Still, he’d been able to lead her on. Closer… Closer…

_ ZAP. _

The spell he’d been building for the past hour-and-a-half snapped into place, setting the airborne Endbringer aglow… and completely stripped of kinetic energy, if only for a short while.

This time, she looked completely shocked - another thing the humans would take loads of photos of, no doubt - and then…

She carefully reached out and pulled the spell off of her. Gently, not like how he’d seen impatient _ ehhif _ unwrap food or presents at Grand Central Station. This was with respect.

The fact that it yielded to her touch at all was enough to leave Arhu gobsmacked, of course, but the nature of the peeling baffled him even more.

_ /… Gee, thanks. Thanks for being polite, I guess?/ _

And then she abruptly went still, in mid-motion.

___

**Five Seconds Earlier**

The peridexis had had a hell of a time getting into Eidolon - David’s - head, more specifically his power. It being a dead entity gave him some leeway, but that didn’t provide innate _ understanding _ of how it worked.

More to the point, it didn’t explain _ how it’d been controlling the Endbringers _, even though that knowledge had been plain to him since right after the man had stepped out of a portal into Brockton Bay.

Bobo scrambled for the controls, while at the same time trying not to scramble the man’s _ brain _-

And saw far more than he’d planned for. Where Coil’s power hadn’t yielded the secrets of its source, this one _ could- _

Because David had _ gone back there. _ Hundreds of times, even. In fact, there appeared to be a _ base _ there.

Anger narrowing his focus, he successfully found and _ slammed _ the ‘off switch’ for the Endbringers - or ‘Conflict Engines’, as the dead-entity fragment indicated - freezing them still.

Out in the battlefield, Eidolon’s suit flickered, and he looked extremely confused.

What the hero was confused _ about _ no one would have time to parse, for that was when Scion came blazing across the ocean and to a hard stop.

The Golden Man did not look pleased.  
___

[_QUERY _ ] 

The peridexis winced; Scion sounded _ angry. _ ‘What is your business with my Shards?’, indeed.

_ I am errantry _ , it replied, _ and I greet you. I understand there’s been somewhat of a clerical error? _

Scion’s expression shifted to one of confusion - only he wasn’t glaring at any one human in particular, and the peridexis used that as cue to leave Eidolon’s entity alone for the moment.  [EXPLAIN.] 

_ To my understanding, the Powers that run this disparate cosmos… don’t actually know you exist? _

Now Scion seemed truly dumbfounded. _ [QUERY?] _

And so the peridexis found itself explaining what the Powers _ were _, a more long-winded version of the data-dump it had given Inference Engine - and had enabled the other entities to pick up on - as Scion grew both more confused and strangely angry.

All around, Parahumans made to retreat as subtly as they could; perhaps their own powers were giving them a hint that _ this was not where they wanted to be right now _, and even the Endbringers looked reluctant to get involved.

The peridexis had worked through the explanation of entropy, and the Lone Power, and was only just beginning to explain what Timeheart was when-

_ [CLARIFY?] _

Apparently the notion that there was a place _ beyond Death _ was enough to hold all of the Golden Man’s attention.

___

The Simurgh, now that precisely none of the attention was on her, had redirected her telekinesis toward a specific Tinker’s latest invention, creeping her mental control over it little by little, edging it into a _ specific _ configuration-

_ There! _ And the targeting signal was coming…

_ BOOM! _

Let Scion appreciate _ that _ view!

___

There’d been more than one misunderstanding going on, and the peridexis was more than tired of it now. The ‘dead entities’ had been the product of _ another _ Entity like Scion - Zion - and his partner had been off the radar for the past three decades. Zion had been hoping there would be record of her in Timeheart, if such a place was truly beyond Death - and if _ she _ had been there, he wanted to go there as well. Immediately.

The peridexis had just been about to explain how it _ could not _ simply transport beings to Timeheart when they weren’t beyond Time themselves, and how it didn’t have that authority to begin with, when suddenly a window had opened in the world, with what could only be described as a ‘garden of flesh’ beyond it.

Picking up on three more familiar wizardry signatures, the peridexis sighed to itself in relief and started to send greetings - only, Zion now looked stricken, and that couldn’t be a good sign.

_ Better get out of the way; you’ve got incoming! _ The peridexis managed to transmit, before the Entity disappeared through the gap and-

There was a flash-

And the peridexis could feel as _ every ‘dead’ entity in range _ began to come alive.

And it had no idea what to do, and-

Its attention faltered.

___

[EXCITEMENT]

{CONFUSION}

[ELABORATION. QUERY]

[NEGATION. QUERY]

And on they went. That there were two Entities now seemed to make the conversation _ louder _, which didn’t help the peridexis concentrate on what to bring up next.

Then, as if its very presence had been an afterthought, the two of them - one golden, one silvery - drifted back through the makeshift portal-

(Which, fortunately, seemed to have attracted an _ actual _ worldgate; if that had been the only result the peridexis could have afforded to feel relieved, but now seemed not the best time.)

And now both Entities were staring at a point in midair, as if expecting the peridexis were embodied within it. Whether that was a normal coping mechanism or an actual reflection of how Entities in general thought, the peridexis thought it prudent not to make comment.

[DECLARATION]{AGREEMENT}

_ /I believe I was just saying you - or rather, I - _ can’t actually do that. _ Why do you want to go there?/ _

Zion seemed downright _ affronted _, now. [RESTATEMENT. ASSERTION.]

The peridexis had no idea how this looked to the surrounding, mostly unwilling, audience, and for the most part couldn’t spare the attention, but it was bound to be something bizarre. _ /Well all right, let’s talk using a more familiar paradigm. You send out your- shards, fine, to gather data, yes?/ _

{AGREEMENT. QUERY}

_ /I’m not done yet./ _ The second Entity backed off, surprised - and the peridexis was, too; that had been conveyed with more anger than it’d intended.

_ /You wanted to explore the worlds and refute entropy regarding yourselves, yes?/ _

[AGREEMENT]

_ /Well, _ you’ve already done that! _ / _

There was a pause.

[CONFUSION]{CONFUSION}

The peridexis sent back images this time, snapshots of the effects their shards had had on the world in conjunction with their hosts. /_ The laws of physics, gravity, and to an extent logical causation, have long since become your playthings, and you pass this gift on to other species with regularity. If you weren’t so focused on literal _ fighting _ all the time, the worlds would already be a much better place and you wouldn’t _ need _ to worry about using up all of any one place’s resources! _ Your running and destruction is your own demise! _ / _

This declaration was met not with silence but a familiar echo - perhaps the addition of so many more discrete minds had done it, perhaps some manipulation had occurred elsewhere - and the space above Brockton Bay now had aspects of the dream-conference space infused with it. There was simply _ more there, _ now.

Still, it went on: _ /And before you ask again, running off to _ Timeheart _ won’t make _ these _ worlds any better! Do not discount what actions you can still take, what data you can still gather. Look around you-/ _

It laughed, then, slightly, sounding a little broken.

_ /Look around you. In this universe - just this one - there are billions of other planets, trillions of other stars. There is always more to learn, in the life you still have. I mean, I'm only just younger than _ Time itself _ and I'm _ still _ learning. You will never be short of data, 'perfection' or no./ _

During this timeframe, something of a chant had started. _ [RE - CON - FIG!] _

Apparently the collected entities were making their preference known. Zion and his partner looked about them in bafflement as the chanting increased in intensity - doubtless there was panic ensuing below as the show went on-

And just as suddenly the crowd went away. Both Entities flinched, as if expecting to be struck… but there came no more echoes, no more shouts. They looked at each other, then back at where they’d assumed the peridexis - was it the Anomaly to them as well, now, or something else? - was. 

[ELABORATION. QUERY]

The skies were clear again, and the worldgate had stabilized. Both very good things. And as for Zion’s question…

_ /Yes, I suppose that’s a workable compromise. Passing along the relevant data now.../ _

___

For Kit - and for everyone else too, he heavily suspected - the next few hours were a blur of action, confusion, and explanation.

Scion and his still-unnamed partner had taken off, bound for parts unknown, to converse with the rest of their kind. The remainder of their cast-off shards - the powers that the peridexic effect had been able to talk with the entire time - had received some careful editing of limits, most of which were stated to be _ removals _ of limits, except for the ones that prevented real damage to hosts.

The Endbringers had also departed, but with communications restored word quickly came in of new, _ benevolent _ behaviors on their part: stopping natural disasters, repairing broken large-scale structures and so forth. Kit had shaken his head at it all, given how most of the broken things either hadn’t _ existed _ back home for him, or had just never been broken in the first place.

This Earth, and those nearest to it, had a _ long _ way to go.

But for himself, Nita, and Arhu - and, to their joy, for Filif, Ronan, and Rhiow - their first stop was _ home _, catching up with and giving reports to their Seniors and peers while they could still stand…

And then finally, finally, getting some real rest.

Kit was very much looking forward to this day being over. Mostly, he was just glad this had managed, closely, to _ not _ become his worst day either.

___

Once they’d gone home, and caught up with what the other wizards involved on the errantry had found out (not much of anything, until the _ Partial Overshadowing _ notification on the blocked location had disappeared, as it turned out), and each had had tearful reunions with their families, Nita had been all too happy to drop into sleep.

She had, in fact, slept for _ days. _ Not exactly healthy, but oh it’d felt _ glorious. _ Faintly, she could feel that the peridexis felt the exact same way, and she’d been too tired upon first notice to care about the entanglement.

Just _ sleep... _

“Uh, excuse us?” [Query: Are you awake?]

Nita snapped her eyes open, regretting now that she’d put up the curtains _ and _ the blinds; that it was dark in her room had gone from peaceful reassurance to _ concern _ in a second, because _ someone was in her bedroom. _

“Nnn. I am _ now. _ What do you want?”

Carefully, she pushed herself up off her pillow, trying to find whoever it was, reaching for both a security-activation wizardry and the peridexis itself in the back of her mind.

[Statement: We are on errantry, and we greet you?]

Nita moved to facepalm, and nearly fell over due to her ensuing lack of balance.

“I don’t know _ why _ I’m surprised,” she said aloud - and silently, she went on, _ ‘Bobo, you know anything about this?’ _

_ I’m afraid not, Nita. _ The peridexis sounded almost sheepish now, which amused her despite this newest upheaval.

Out loud, she continued, “Anything we can help you with, then?”

The other human - a girl, about Nita’s age, who looked to be the only other person in the room despite there being two voices - had her mouth open to explain, only for said other voice to continue: [Declaration: My Host needs help. Recommendation: minimum three months for therapy and training outside of previously-hostile environment.]

At this point, giving up on any thought of further rest for the day, Nita swung herself out of bed and sighed.

“I think I can get you both started on arranging _ that _… But can we please take this out of my room first?”

“Yeeeaah, I think we’d better. I’m _ really _ sorry about that,” the teen ended up saying.

“I literally _ just _ took the Oath a couple hours ago, and she - my partner - she’s been really enthusiastic. You’re Nita, right?” Then she looked confused. “And the Anomaly?”

Nita, thankful she’d gone to bed clothed, simply nodded. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. I call him Bobo, myself; blame my sister, it was originally someone _ else’s _ name…”

They made their way down to the Callahan family kitchen. “So what are your names?”

“I’m Taylor Hebert.” [Title: Queen Administrator]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, as a certain team of cats put away their dinner, post-worldgate-clean-up, Arhu was excitedly trying to recap what he’d been up to… while still eating.  
_/And then_ I _ended up fighting the Simurgh; she was this huge, stone-textured woman, with all these feathers, and, and she could scream and drive people insane! Didn’t bother me, though, the screaming.../_  
The second black-and-white cat on the team - Sif, Arhu’s sister - paused in her eating, then flicked her tail and one ear dismissively.  
_/Oh, brother, it sounds more like you fought a _goose_./_


End file.
